


Saiyan Uprising

by Myrivalshipkakavege



Series: Planet Vegeta AU [1]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: F/M, M/M, Planet Vegeta AU, Saiyans, kakavege
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 20:38:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 90,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14940986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myrivalshipkakavege/pseuds/Myrivalshipkakavege
Summary: On a Planet Vegeta where Frieza never followed through with killing the Saiyans, but keeps them enslaved for many years.  A war is brewing, nevertheless - an uprising.  The Saiyans can't defeat Frieza until AFTER they deal with each other.





	1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

The Saiyans, known throughout the universe for their strength and cruelty, were The Planet Trade Organization's most reliable soldiers, willingly so at first. Bloodthirsty, powerful, and calloused, they were Lord Frieza's perfect weapon for growing his empire.

Despite his fears of the emergence of a Super Saiyan, Frieza continued to use the Saiyans to his advantage, keeping an especially close eye on the strongest of them-the elites. While teams of Saiyans conquered most planets, the more powerful elites conquered especially challenging planets and the more disposable, third class infant Saiyans were sent to single-handedly destroy the lives on peace-loving planets with weak inhabitants.

After a decade of tolerating Frieza's rule, the Saiyans grew more proud and defiant. Their power as a group was growing, and with that power, their pride and defiance overcame their wiser instincts of preservation. Eventually, a foreseeable rebellion was led by the Saiyan king, Vegeta, to no avail against the massive power of Frieza and his army.

Frieza craftily repaid the Saiyans' rebellious efforts by taking the queen of Saiyans as his bargaining tool. The royal, respected status of Frieza's hostage served to keep the Saiyan king and his subjects under control, regardless of how powerful they were growing, and how much more spiteful they were becoming towards Frieza and his empire.

Planet Vegeta was home to the Saiyans, though most Saiyans spent very little time there. Over the first years following the queen's capture, purging on foreign planets had become the bulk of their lives.

Ten years after the queen's capture, the Saiyans still dutifully took up the PTO's assignments by King Vegeta's order in the name of the preservation of their queen. Millions of viable planets still remained untouched throughout the universe, which were on Frieza's unending list of assignments.

Thus, the Saiyan race lived in slavery, in hatred of their tyrannous extraterrestrial overlord, growing in power and constantly fantasizing about someday overthrowing Lord Frieza, once and for all.

 


	2. Status Quo

  
  


A large, leathery-skinned brawny man with a short, spiky mess of black hair sat at a table in a dark room lit only by dim lamps, peering at the two other men in the massive room as he chewed a mouthful of food. Beside him, a bald, brawny man sat, rubbing his calloused fingers over his dark goatee. Further from the table, a tall, thin but powerful man with short black hair stood with a scowl.

At the table, the spiky-haired man's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed his mound of food and then spoke with a sneer. "I hate that piece of trash."

"Arsnip," the bald man at the table said, "if you hate him so much, why don't you purge with another team?"

"Yeah," the third man butted in before Arsnip could respond, "we're elites. You can work with any team you choose."

Arsnip never removed his eyes from his mountain of food as he irritably tossed it about on his plate, then snapped, "What would be the difference? They're all trash. Every last one of those third class weaklings."

"Quit your complaining if you're not going to do anything about it then." The goatee-faced Saiyan said. "We all have to work with a third class on our teams. Shit!" With a dismissive shake of his head, he abruptly turned to show Arsnip his wide back.

"Nappa."

"Nappa's right, Arsnip." The lean man spoke as he crossed his arms. "Nappa has to work with a third class  _and_  Prince Vegeta. At least you don't have it that bad." He smirked tauntingly, "And I don't hear  _him_  complaining. Kakarot can't be that bad."

"Pff." Arsnip scoffed with a raise of his squared chin and a twisting of his lips. "You don't know Kakarot. He's probably basking in my absence right now."

* * *

A desolate wasteland of a foreign planet was covered in burning, smoldering debris littered amongst carcasses of animals and alien corpses. The only living things remaining were the vividly colorful flora and fauna of the planet and a trio of Saiyans in battle-roughened PTO armor, celebrating their completed job with a hearty meal around a bonfire.

The tall, handsome young man with a spiky disarray of hair spoke confidently before biting into a huge chunk of skewered meat, "I told you we'd be fine without Arsnip."

"Fine?" The sole female crew member responded with a lewd smile, "we kicked ass. That might be a record time. You're getting stronger, Kakarot. You might even surpass Arsnip soon."

"Don't tell  _him_  that." Kakarot laughed casually as he tossed aside the stripped skewer and reached for another. "Arsnip hates me enough already."

The youngest member of the trio, with similar black spiky hair and furry tail like his teammates, was notably differentiated from the other two by his obvious young adolescent age. Sitting on the fallen log beside Kakarot, he was listening to the conversation in silence, until the woman quirked a brow at him, as if requesting his input.

"I don't think he hates you, Kakarot." He said, "He just thinks he's above everyone else on this team because he was born with a golden spoon in his mouth."

Kakarot leaned forward domineeringly, causing the teen to pull back in surprise. With a cruel smirk, Kakarot braced his elbow on his knee and leered at the long-haired, lean teenager, who leaned back, intimidated by his stronger teammate.

Kakarot straightened with a dismissive posture. "Don't be a suck up, Zukki."

The younger Saiyan's tail bristled and his face flushed with embarrassment and anger as the woman scowled at Kakarot across the bonfire.

"I know Arsnip's thought about killing me." Kakarot chuckled mischievously. "He can't stand me."

"Then maybe it would be smart to stop taunting him, Kakarot," the female chastised as she crossed her arms and glared, "if you value your life any more than the rest of your team does."

Kakarot smiled teasingly at her, the reflection of the fire dancing in his eyes. "I can handle Arsnip, Kanna. It's good to know you're so concerned about me, though."

Kanna gracefully rose to her feet, stretching her smooth, shapely legs with a haughty raise of her chin. "I never said I was _concerned_ about you." She scoffed, before coldly adding, "I just don't want the hassle of breaking in a new replacement when you're dead."

As Kanna turned abruptly, abandoning the bonfire circle to retire into a shielded tent a few feet away, Kakarot watched her closely. When Kanna ducked her long, black, spiky head of hair beneath the flap of the tent to disappear inside, Kakarot discarded the remains of his food and smiled at Zukki. "Time to sleep, Kid."

"Screw you, Kakarot." Zukki said as he ravenously reached for the last remaining full skewer of meat beside the fire, "I haven't finished eating."

Kakarot shrugged as he rose to his feet. "Fine. Suit yourself. We takeoff at daybreak. Set your scouter." He turned towards the tent where Kanna had disappeared. "And if you're staying up, don't complain about anything you might hear."

"Aw!" Zukki complained with a sneer before looking knowingly towards the tent. "Not again!"

Kakarot chuckled mischievously before he winked at Zukki and turned again to walk to Kanna's tent.

"Kakarot!" Zukki complained before running the fingers of his free hand through his gravity-defying spikes of hair with a heavy sigh.

Zukki finished his skewer of meat in one massive bite, chewing with full cheeks for a while as he found himself listening in anticipation. After he swallowed it down, he heard the muffled moans from that tent which he by now identified as the sounds associated with successful purging.

Zukki glanced at the tent with a disgruntled scowl. "I don't know why those two don't just move in together already, if they're gonna keep going at it like that."

Hearing the breathy whimpers of Kanna's voice, Zukki found himself reaching between his own legs with a pleasing rub. "Shit. I can't take this anymore." He muttered to himself in frustration as he enviously stared towards that distant tent. "No wonder Arsnip hates him."

Zukki frowned bitterly before standing with the discomfort of a forming erection between his legs, which he knew would not be receiving any attention from anyone else.

Regretfully, he retired to his own tent, following Kakarot's instructions by setting his scouter and going to sleep. Not before taking care of his little problem, in the privacy of his own tent. He was actually relieved that Arsnip wasn't with them that night.

* * *

"King Vegeta." Two men said with a dutiful bow as they entered the tense atmosphere of the king's throne room.

They were just arriving from their late dinner, having been summoned by the king, who stood from his throne upon their arrival, narrowing his eyes perceptively at the sight of them. There was nothing particularly important happening to cause the tension in the throne room, but rather, the place always felt that way. For most, it was not a safe place to be summoned.

"Nappa, Zorn." The king responded with a deep scowl. "What took you so long?"

The two men glanced at one another.

Zorn clasped his hands behind his back in a display of confidence, despite the fact that his nerves were on edge as he stood before the king. "Arsnip was in the dining room. We...lost track of time with our conversation."

"You lost track of time." The king responded with an ominous step forward and a disbelieving glower.

Nappa fell to one knee, addressing the king with a reverent bow for good measure. "We apologize, Sire."

"What-" The king trailed off with a perceptive eyeing of his aloofly passing eldest son in a nearby hall, until the prince was out of hearing range. "What exactly were you conversing about that was so important that the  _King_  had to wait?"

Nappa and Zorn visibly winced at the king's biting tone. "Arsnip is having issues with..." Zorn shrugged dubiously to Nappa, until Nappa shrugged back, "...with his purge team."

To their surprise, the king laughed loudly. "Aren't we all? I suppose you'd all like it if I separated the third class into their own teams, so elites didn't have to work with them anymore."

Nappa smirked appreciatively while Zorn smiled hesitantly at the suggestion.

"Well it's not going to happen!" King Vegeta yelled abruptly, causing all the other men in the throne room to flinch and grimace in fear.

After a long silence followed, Nappa looked up to carefully meet King Vegeta's gaze. "King Vegeta..."

"If my third class subjects are left to their own devices, they may start failing purges. And then Frieza..." The king trailed off with a sorrowful frown, which he tried to hide from his guards, to no avail. "What he would do to the queen..." The king stubbornly hardened his resolve at the mention of his imprisoned wife. "This is the way it has been for years, and it will remain this way. If Arsnip has a problem with that, he can voice his concerns directly to me." The king smiled evilly. "Not that I would do anything about it that he would  _like_."

Nappa and Zorn both nodded as the king turned his head, stroking his goatee pensively. "Who is the third class lead on Arsnip's team now?"

A sudden realization lit King Vegeta's face as he turned towards the two elite guards with an angered glare. "Kakarot."

"Yes, King Vegeta." Nappa readily agreed as he rose to his feet.

"Is there anything I should be made aware of in regards to my son?" The king asked tersely.

"No." Nappa coughed nervously before his eyes and everyone else's uncomfortably averted from the king's. "Prince Vegeta has not seen Kakarot in quite a while."

Relieved, the king eased back on his heels. "If that man wasn't so useful, I'd have had him killed already."

The king pursed his lips tightly in distaste as he remembered the time he nearly did exactly that. It wasn't Kakarot's usefulness that kept him alive, but his luck of an intervention on his behalf by a certain crafty Saiyan woman.

King Vegeta sighed. "I suppose I can't blame Arsnip for being dissatisfied. Make sure Vegeta continues to keep his distance from that third class scum, Nappa. As for the reason I summoned you here," the king narrowed his eyes as Nappa and Zorn stiffened in anticipation, "I've received word that Zarbon and Dodoria will be visiting our planet tomorrow...to monitor our progress with Lord Frieza's purge requests."

As Zorn scoffed aloud, Nappa snorted under his breath, "Requests."

The king sneered upon hearing their mockery, yet nodded in agreement. "Requests." He repeated firmly. "I need you two by my side in the morning, in case those two try anything."

Nappa and Zorn both saluted their king by planting a fist firmly against their chest. "Yes, Sire!"

"That is all." King Vegeta dismissed the elite guards before turning his back to them to approach his throne again.

Once alone with only his silent guards surrounding him, King Vegeta slid his hand slowly over the gilded arm of his throne with a pensive frown, before finally seating himself. He rested his bearded chin in his palm as he leaned forward with a sigh.

King Vegeta realized that his queen was likely doomed, never to be freed. Given her likely treatment under the custody of someone as sadistic as Frieza, he wouldn't be surprised if she wouldn't even recognize him anymore if she were freed. In addition to that, his youngest son seemed to lack the Saiyan nature of bloodlust that was necessary for survival during these trying times under Frieza's rule. Too many subjects were questioning Tarble's integrity as a prince of their planet already. The last thing King Vegeta needed was the circulation around the planet of nasty rumors about his more powerful heir and a third class Saiyan, as founded as those rumors may have been.

* * *

"Raditz, are you ready yet?" An impatient Saiyan Prince voiced brashly into his scouter, scowling impassively towards a bustling launch pad.

The muffled voice replying through the scouter in his ear sounded casual and confident, though by the prince's expression, the irritating man should have been anything but. The prince sneered before he glanced at his silently observing younger brother, who frowned considerately at the response he was also hearing through his own scouter.

"I'm sure he'll be here any minute, just like he said." Tarble assured his irate brother, though it was obvious that he didn't believe his own words.

Vegeta frowned deeply before looking at Nappa's sour expression. "That's it!" Vegeta yelled suddenly, causing the others' eyes to widen in alarm. "We're leaving without that fuck up!"

"Vegeta!"

"What?!" Vegeta snapped in response to the others' aghast responses.

Tarble and Nappa immediately took an instinctive step back upon seeing Vegeta's intolerant glare.

"If we leave without Raditz," Tarble began hesitantly, unable to meet his brother's gaze, "Father will-"

"I don't care what he does." Vegeta interrupted stubbornly as he wrinkled his nose and turned away from his brother, to face the waiting pods before him. "I don't care what  _you_  think, either." Vegeta added with slow, determined strides towards his awaiting pod. "It's not like you'll be on this team long enough for your opinion to count anyways."

After Vegeta's cross utterance, Tarble gasped while at Vegeta reaching for the door of his pod. "What?"

Nappa grimaced, his eyes darting between the two royal brothers. Vegeta only glanced over his shoulder at his brother in response, chucking cruelly at his brother's worrisome grimace as he stepped into his pod.

"Prince Tarble-" Nappa implored with a guilty frown.

Before he could continue, though, the Saiyans' scouters all beeped in rapid succession, registering the approach they had been awaiting. Nappa smirked bitterly as he reached a fingertip to his scouter and zeroed in to identify the incoming power level. "Raditz."

As Nappa drawled the name in disdain, Tarble searched the red-tinged sky above for his third class team member, whom he spotted immediately upon spying the Saiyan flying towards them with Raditz's distinctive mass of black hair. "He made it."

"About fucking time." Vegeta chided as he crossed his arms and settled into the cushioned, enveloping seat of his pod.

With the press of a button, Vegeta's pod door began to seal shut, prompting the other Saiyans to enter their own pods hurriedly.

"Alright! Time to purge!" Nappa cheered, squeezing his massive form into his own tiny pod. "I've got a lot of pent up anger to burn off."

The third class Saiyan landed, his boots hitting the ground with a pair of taps as Nappa chuckled deviously in anticipation. Upon seeing the appearance of his detested comrade, Nappa glared. "Get in your pod or get left behind, Third Class."

The derogatorily addressed Raditz smirked challengingly at the elite soldier just before Nappa's hatch came down, concealing the two from one another. Raditz arrogantly flipped his lengthy black hair before turning towards the remaining empty pod. It was just another day for him, dealing with a team full of elite soldiers. A guy had to have serious backbone to put up with the elite's snobby bullshit. Raditz sauntered to his pod before stepping inside it, just as Vegeta's pod launched into the atmosphere with an explosive bang.

Raditz sat in his pod in a similar pose to Vegeta's, glaring with determination as his pod door sealed shut. "No one's leaving  _me_  behind."

As Raditz grumbled to himself and pushed a button to take off, another Saiyan observed the team's launch into the atmosphere. He stood in the shadows of the launch pad, with his tail wrapped around his waist as he stood with his arms crossed, smiling wryly at what he had just witnessed. The light of a passing ship reflected across the scouter covering his left eye, giving only a slight indication of the spiky-haired presence lurking in the shadows.

"No." The man agreed, "no one is leaving you behind, Raditz. Soon, the elites will no longer have their precious status. We're closing the power gap and they're going to need us soon, more than we've ever needed them."

The man suddenly stopped speaking aloud as his head turned to the side with a pensive scowl. His breathing was slow and calm, becoming the only sound on the abandoned launch pad as he stood there alone.

"Still…" he mused as his chin dropped to his chest, "why do I foresee so much death?"

His brows knitted tightly with consternation as he lifted his chin towards the gaseous, darkening red evening sky. There were no answers in that sky, yet its calming fluorescence gave the man some solace, in a life where his tolerance was reaching its limits, and he knew his misfortune was far from over. He would fight to the end, no matter what, but what he was foreseeing…

He frowned deeply as he looked to the starless, moonless sky again.

"Gine…" he called the name despondently, his voice sounding defeated and longing at the same time.

* * *

King Vegeta leisurely strode through his lavish chamber, wearing a navy blue satin robe with the royal crest printed on the back, and nothing else. His bare feet padded quietly against the stone flooring as he approached the massive bed with twisted sheets and a barely conscious, shaggy-haired, naked Saiyan woman.

"Time to go." The king commanded as he lightly tapped the bed and his eyes met the hateful gaze of the woman. He lowered his chin in disbelief when she did not immediately make a move to leave or dress. "I have a meeting. Move your ass, Gine."

With a hateful glare, Gine viciously pulled back the sheets covering her before hissing her response, "Yes, Sire."

The king raised an unamused brow at the lady's naked form as she stood from the bed and turned her back to him. When her tail swayed to the side, he aptly reached a hand to clutch her naked rear end tightly in his palm. She hissed in pain as he lowered his lips to brush against her ear.

"Don't forget who you're talking to." The king warned ominously as Gine grimaced and failed to turn and meet his gaze. "Our arrangement is only good as long as I find pleasure from it." Gine turned slowly to face the cruelly smirking king. "Do you know how much I still want your son dead?"

Gine scoffed angrily at the king's statement as she crossed her arms over her naked breasts and looked away. Vegeta harshly grasped her chin in his palm with an angered glare as he forced her to look at him again. "Kakarot did not only dishonor my son. He threatened my legacy!" The king reminded her as he bared his teeth in fury.

Gine glared back defiantly at the king, a decision which wasn't wise, yet Saiyan women's tempers often got the best of them. "Nothing  _dishonors_  your son," Gine boldly disagreed before a taunting smirk crossed her face, "except maybe his overblown ego."

The sudden harsh clash of skin against skin rang through the king's bed chamber. Gine's eyes watered and her cheek immediately reddened as she glared incredulously at the king. With a delayed gasp, she gingerly reached a hand to caress her new wound as the king glared sternly at her and withdrew his hand to his side.

"You dare to mock your future king." The king seethed at Gine as she took a wary step back.

She steeled herself with a deep breath and glared with determination. "I dare to defend my son, as I always have, always will."

The king stared long and hard at the stubborn woman, who boldly stared back as she waited for his response.

Finally, the king's gaze softened as he gave her a curt nod and turned away. "Fair enough. You're fortunate that your king's bed has been cold for the past few years, Gine. And that you're so talented beneath the sheets." He glanced over his shoulder at the scowling woman with a sly smile, "any other third class Saiyan who would dare to speak with me so freely would already be dead."

"I guess I should  _thank_  you." Gine responded sarcastically as she pointedly rubbed at her aching, throbbing cheek while she futilely attempted to cover herself with her other, slender arm.

"No need to thank me." The king responded with a tone of mirth as he walked towards the door of his adjoining bathroom. "Though maybe next time, a little begging would be nice." He added with a wide smirk, turning to meet Gine's gaze.

Gine hurriedly reached for her armor from the ground and held it to cover her naked form before meeting the king's greedy eyes. "I don't think there can be a next time after this."

As Gine stepped into the leggings of her attire, Vegeta looked at her questioningly, until Gine waved a hand indicatively towards her visibly injured cheek. "Bardock will have questions."

The king grinned and snorted in amusement with a dismissive shake of his head. "That fool always has questions."

Gine continued dressing, yet paused her efforts to meet his eyes and glare at him reprovingly.

"If you're worried about your mate learning of the nature of our meetings, it's a little late for that."

Gine finished pulling her armor over her head and then stopped to stare back at her lover in wide-eyed confusion. "What do you mean?"

"For such a crafty woman, you can be so dense sometimes." The king replied with a roll of his eyes.

Gine gawked at the king in disbelief. "He  _doesn't_  know!"

"He doesn't?" King Vegeta replied with a disbelieving, hearty laugh as he swung open the door to his bathchamber. "Alright."

"Vegeta!" Gine yelled as she chased after the king retreating into the bath, "part of our arrangement was that Bardock was never to know about this!"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes in annoyance before unashamedly disrobing himself. Gine watched the satin material of the king's royal blue robe fall gracefully to the floor as her brows knitted tightly with worry. The king gently cupped her chin in his palm, drawing her perturbed gaze back up to meet his.

"I agreed never to inform your mate. I never have." Vegeta honestly informed Gine as she carefully processed his words. "Our arrangement stands."

As the king released her chin to turn towards the bath behind him with a cold demeanor, Gine stared at his back. He turned the squeaky handle to draw his bath water as Gine took a deep breath, her heart racing with the implications of what she'd just learned.

She absently snapped the straps of her armor, concluding her dressing with Vegeta's back to her as the running water was the only sound in the room for a few tense minutes. Finally, another squeak sounded as Vegeta turned the handle again, ceasing the fall of the water as the room suddenly quieted with one resounding drip of water plopping into the filled tub.

"You need to leave now." Vegeta said before stepping into the tub.

Gine frowned deeply as she stared down at the comfortably sinking king, who only closed his eyes and proceeded to bathe as if she were already gone. Gine whispered venomously, "I hate you."

She turned to leave, knowing that she would be returning home to a man who knew her secret. Maybe he knew all along. Bardock _would_ play it off as if nothing was amiss. What she was doing was hard enough, but she never wanted it to hurt him. If she had known it would come to this, maybe she would have never offered herself to the king.

But as she emerged secretively into the hall, she knew deep down that just wasn't true. He had been determined to kill Kakarot. She would have done anything to prevent that, just as she would have if the king threatened Raditz's life. Those stupid boys were going to be the death of her.

"Damn you, Kakarot." Gine muttered to herself with an annoyed scoff as she accusingly eyed a portrait of the younger Vegeta hanging in the halls she regularly passed on her walk through the castle.

Her youngest son was so selfish, always acting on impulse without any consideration for how his actions affected those around him. If he had any idea what his mother was sacrificing to save him from the punishment he'd carelessly brought upon himself, well...

"He wouldn't do much, anyways." Gine scoffed.

In spite of herself, she allowed a smile to curl her lips at the thoughts of her son. Kakarot had to grow up, take responsibility and start dealing with his own problems. Raditz, too. But Bardock...how could she face the man she loved now? Well, most likely, the same way she had been. After all, nothing had recently changed in his eyes. If he could ignore the issue, so could she.

She only hoped Bardock could understand the motivation for her betrayal. She hoped he realized that what she was doing was not for pleasure, but preservation of their kin. She would die for his children, and for him. Being used on the regular by the king disgusted her, but it did have its advantages. Yet, like anything else in Saiyan society, that which provided benefits also came with risks-risks that could cost you your life. Aside from all that, maybe Vegeta was lying about Bardock. The king certainly was not the most forthcoming man she'd ever crossed.

Gine took a very deep breath as she reached the window that was her regular escape route from the castle. She let out a long, dragging exhale before she launched herself into the black night's sky. She had a decision to make. As she thought it over on her flight home, Gine enjoyed the refreshing evening breeze against her face.

She had almost forgotten to affix her nuisance of a scouter to her ear, but as she did so, the tender bruising the scouter touched was a painful reminder of the evening's occurrences with her king. Yet, it drew her towards a decision. Confessing would only drive a wedge between her and Bardock, regardless of whether he already knew the truth, only a variation of the truth, or nothing of the truth. The best thing she could do for her family would be to stay the path.

She would go home, serve her boys dinner, and lay with her husband as if nothing had changed between them. Because nothing  _had_  changed.

Everything was status quo.

 


	3. Life on Planet Vegeta

  
  


 

Back in his own bed after a long purge, Vegeta stared at his ceiling, sighing in content. "Just what I needed after a good purge."

"I'm surprised you waited until your return home." The naked woman lying on the pillow beside him smiled smugly, while the prince turned a stoic gaze on her. "Most Saiyans need to indulge before the high wears off. You must've missed me."

The prince sat up and scoffed. "I only waited because no one on my team suits me."

The prince made no attempt to hide his ill regard for the woman in bed with him as he dismissively rose to his feet, turning his back on her. As he exposed his scarred, naked back to the woman, his tail unfurled and swayed lazily in her face.

The woman brushed the furry appendage aside with the back of her hand and narrowed her eyes perceptively at the prince's back. "Well, sure, Nappa's getting old, and kind of oafish." She shrugged as Vegeta bent to the floor and retrieved his armor. "And your  _brother_  is out of the question. Cute kid, though. But Raditz is-"

Vegeta abruptly pulled his pants to his waist. "Raditz is Kakarot's brother."

"So?"

Vegeta visibly faltered at the woman's question, as if caught in a guilty act. However, he quickly hardened his visage before he turned to face her. "Get out."

"Get out?" She asked in disbelief before a knowing, flirtatious smile crossed her face. "I know."

Vegeta raised a dubious brow at the woman. She rose to her knees on the bed to lean into the prince, who narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously as she reached her hands to stroke the taut muscles of his naked chest and run through his black spikes of hair.

"You're too proud to show your true feelings," she claimed, "but you truly did miss me. You care for me. You'll just never admit it."

Vegeta abruptly pulled away, seizing her wrists in his hands as he freed himself from her embrace. "You mean nothing, Woman. You're wrong."

When she continued to smile confidently back at him, Vegeta smirked. Her eyes met his with a lustful gaze as she pressed her soft lips to his. Vegeta allowed the pleasant touch, yet did not partake in exploring her lips as she was exploring his.

"Am I?" She challenged, breathing into his lips.

Vegeta raised a challenging brow at the woman as she pulled away from him. After reaching a hand to her shoulder and running it gingerly over the nape of her neck, Vegeta allowed it to fall to her naked breast to cup and squeeze the fleshy mound in his palm. When his thumb gingerly encircled her nipple, she sighed.

"Don't believe me?" Vegeta asked as he predatorially scoped the woman's gaze for any sign of doubt or fright.

The woman's eyes showed no sign of either, which Vegeta found impressively brave and stupid at the same time.

"Do I need to prove it to you?" Vegeta smiled to himself as he slid his palm from her breast to lie flat against the center of her chest.

As heat and light emitted from his palm, the woman gasped, her eyes widening in shock. Before she had the chance to scream or respond, Vegeta's blazing ki blasted through her chest, leaving a bloody mess across his bed before her body fell back onto the tousled sheets on the mattress.

At the sound of the blast, a nearby servant rushed into the chamber. He stared in horror at the grotesque sight of the blood-covered sheets and the body splayed across Vegeta's bed.

Vegeta snapped his head around to glare at the man. "What are you staring at?"

Grabbing a clean section of the silky bedsheets, Vegeta turned from the servant in the doorway and wiped the blood splatter from his face and chest.

"A-Aruga!" The servant exclaimed in recognition of the murdered woman as he quivered fearfully.

Vegeta issued a low growl as he turned a glare on the man, who knew well enough to keep his mouth shut. Aruga was an elite warrior. If Vegeta could kill  _her_  so easily, that left this nobody of a third class servant incredibly vulnerable to the prince's whims.

"This better be cleaned up by the time I return." The prince ordered with a smug lift of his chin as he registered the look of realization crossing the servant's round, ugly face.

He brushed past the servant, into the hall as a guard was passing by. The tall, older guard glanced casually into Vegeta's chamber before gasping and then shaking his head reprehensibly at the prince.

"Not again." The elite guard grumbled, being intentionally loud enough for Vegeta's ears as the prince continued walking a few steps ahead of him. Vegeta snorted proudly at his handiwork as the guard asked, "What did  _this one_  do?"

"She bored me, Zorn." Vegeta explained without even a glance over his shoulder to the man walking in step behind him.

"Prince Vegeta, you can't-"

" _You_  don't tell me what I can or cannot do!" Vegeta said as his walking came to a sudden halt.

Zorn halted as well, nearly bumping into the prince as he grimaced in shock at the prince's abrasive reaction. Then he sighed heavily. "Elite women are rare enough as it is, my Prince."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes over his shoulder as Zorn explained himself respectfully, though he was clearly struggling to restrain the irritation that was fighting to overcome him. "There are only so many that can bear a powerful heir to be the next king of Vegeta, and there won't be many to choose from when that day comes if you keep  _killing_ them."

Vegeta shrugged with disinterest, still refusing to give Zorn the full attention of turning to face the man behind him. "Then I'll select a whore from the third class next time."

Zorn lost composure and bared his teeth angrily at the prince, his fists clenched tightly by his sides. " _Aruga_  was not a whore."

"She certainly screamed like one." Vegeta chuckled maliciously.

"Vegeta!" The powerful, scolding third voice entering the conversation was like a sudden icy deluge of water being poured on the heated men conversing in the hall.

Zorn immediately quelled his anger towards the prince as he stepped back in deference to the king with a salute of a fist to his chest. Vegeta grimaced bitterly at realizing he'd been caught by the one person who  _could_  tell him what he can or cannot do.

"You know I have no patience," King Vegeta warned Vegeta, "for your jokes about intermingling with the third class."

Vegeta daringly met his father's gaze with a wry smile. "Who said I was joking?"

"This is all a game to you, isn't it?" The king asked as he glared at his son with a bitter frown. "We have a planet to run, Vegeta - a planet full of warriors who only respect power."

"That's," Vegeta hissed as he glared at the king, "why I train."

"It's not just about physical power, Vegeta." The king said with a stern look. "Our subjects will look down on you for being weak if your decisions seem unwise or scrupulous."

"There are already whispers about Prince Vegeta's incident with that third class-"

Zorn was silenced when the king cut him off with a deathly glare. Feeling the need to have more of his point known, Zorn muttered under his breath. "Everyone knows about it."

"That's  _enough_ , Zorn!" The king's fist flew into Zorn's unguarded abdomen, reminding him who had the power.

Zorn's knees buckled after impact, and though he could have remained standing, he reverently fell to his knees as he realized he'd crossed a line with his king that shouldn't have been crossed.

"I'll have you spreading no more rumors about that. Now leave us." After the guard stumbled to his feet with a bow of his head, King Vegeta turned to his son, nodding pointedly towards Zorn retreating down the hall. "Do you see what I'm talking about?"

Vegeta scoffed stubbornly back at his father, though as his gaze firmly planted on the opposite wall, it was clear to the king that he understood.

The king released a heavy sigh of frustration. "Why did you kill Aruga? She could have been a fine queen someday."

"Like I told Zorn," Vegeta repeated as he discreetly rolled his eyes, "she bored me."

"Fine." The king huffed as he crossed his arms. "But why must you kill every woman you take to bed?"

Vegeta smirked at his father with a twinkle of amusement in his eye. "Like  _you_  haven't done it." Vegeta pointedly paused with a pensive expression before meeting his father's affronted gaze with a taunting smirk. "Though, I've noticed you haven't done away with your latest whore yet, whoever she is."

The king glared at his son as he tightened his crossed arms, remaining in tight-lipped silence.

Vegeta chuckled at his father's transparent reaction. "She's that good, huh?"

"Stop making this about me." King Vegeta huffed, dropping his arms to his sides. "I need you to choose a queen so that you can take the throne someday and produce heirs for our line. Understand?"

"As you command, Father." Vegeta sardonically replied with a mocking bow to the king.

King Vegeta growled irately at his bowing son, who he knew had no intentions of selecting a woman to bear his children anytime soon. King Vegeta blamed Kakarot. That third class scum tainted his son, and now the boy couldn't make a decent choice to save his life. With a dismissive shake of his head, King Vegeta turned away from the Saiyan Prince.

As he started walking away, Vegeta's voice surprised him. "Father, is it true what I heard about Tarble?"

King Vegeta abruptly stopped walking. His lips turned down into a bitter scowl. "A Saiyan who is not a warrior is no prince of Vegeta."

King Vegeta knew that would be an adequate affirmation for his eldest son. He exhaled harshly through his nose before walking away from the tense silence that resounded from behind him. The king of Vegeta had to be strong and calloused. Blood meant nothing on Vegeta when it belonged to someone who was a disappointment, even among royalty. As much as he knew it had to be done to reaffirm to the people of Vegeta the power of his house, King Vegeta couldn't kill his own son. Instead, he was sending him away, where Tarble's peaceful nature might actually be acceptable.

Tarble would most likely never be seen again, which left Vegeta as the king's sole heir. The queen couldn't possibly give him any more heirs from her current position, and a child by any other woman would only be an illegitimate bastard. Fickle and unreliable as he was, Vegeta held the responsibility of being Planet Vegeta's future king. And if he fucked it up, the elder Vegeta would make Vegeta wish he were in Tarble's position by the time the king was through with him.

* * *

Gine clutched a full bag in one arm, pressing it against her body to secure it as she turned the handle to her front door and then shouldered the door open. A curious expression crossed Gine's face as she walked through her plain, flat front door to enter her quaint abode. Their house was devoid of color or decoration, very practical and stark. From the doorway, the back of the couch was only a few steps away, facing a small viewing screen used more for global communication than entertainment. Just past that, a small archway led to the kitchen, while turning to the left would lead one down a narrow hall, where three bedrooms and a bathroom were. A few lights were on when she arrived home, but Gine wouldn't think anything of that. Her boys were very forgetful. They normally left lights on. But that scent - that's what alerted her to the fact that she wasn't alone.

As the door thudded closed behind her, Gine sniffed the air to identify that familiar scent she'd picked up on. "Bardock?"

Gine approached the kitchen, following her partner's heady scent which permeated the domicile. She smiled fondly when she passed through the archway, finding him bent over his desk, working with tools and what appeared to be a busted scouter.

"Gine." Bardock grunted without looking up to greet her.

"I didn't expect you back so soon." She admitted as she unloaded her things from the market.

"The team did good work. We finished early."

"Wow," Gine breathed, "you guys have been getting faster and more efficient with every purge." Gine smiled fondly and crossed her arms. "How is the old team?"

Bardock snorted. "Don't tell me you miss being out there with us."

"No." Gine smiled coyly before averting her gaze from Bardock, "I know where I don't belong."

Bardock ceased working on his scouter to give Gine a pointed look. "Do you?"

Gine took a deep breath as her eyes met Bardock's again. Her heart thrummed in her chest as a twitch of fear almost overwhelmed her. But then she dismissed it with an arrogant huff as she turned away from Bardock to dig into her bag and unload her food supply.

Their home was tiny; it was functional. Third class Saiyans didn't require fancy amenities like the elites. A place to cook and eat, a place to shit and wash, and a place to sleep and fuck was all they needed. So in their tiny, stark white kitchen she worked, placing on the counter a hefty amount of vegetables and meat to feed herself, Bardock, and...

"Bardock," Gine said, "I know Raditz just left again this morning, but is Kakarot expected to be planetside today?"

"How should I know?" Bardock said, "I don't keep track of them."

Gine glared at Bardock's back for a moment, then scowled at the table as she grabbed a hatchet and began chopping viciously at the huge slab of meat she'd brought home while muttering resentfully to herself. She didn't want to keep track of everyone else, either. But someone had to. And what was going to happen if Kakarot returned later that evening and she hadn't cooked for three?

Gine knew exactly what would happen. Her son would steal what he could from Bardock and Gine's food, then father and son would fight over the remains, and then she'd be caught in the middle, and later left to repair the destruction left in their wake. So now, she'd have to take the precaution of cooking for three anyways, giving herself extra work to do, just because Bardock was too disinterested to pay attention to his son's whereabouts, which he should have been overhearing through his scouter while he was off on his purge.

"Rrrgg!" Gine screamed furiously as she chucked the hatchet at the countertop.

She had used so much force that the wide blade buried deep in the thick, dense wood. The sound of her furious shriek and its collision made Bardock gasp as he looked up from his work in alarm.

Gine turned to face him with fire in her eyes. "Use your fucking scouter and contact him, or so help me, Bardock," she seethed, "if he shows up here and there's not enough food, Kakarot can have your dinner!"

She paused as Bardock gawked and then glared back at her. As he opened his mouth to speak, she raised a rigid finger to cut him off and growled, "I am not cooking for three if I don't have to. Just because I work at the meat market doesn't mean I  _like_  slaving away in the kitchen."

Bardock rolled his eyes. "Gine..."

Gine grunted as she turned her back to the man and yanked the lodged hatchet from her countertop. "I'm  _cooking_."

At Bardock's audible scoff and thumping footsteps retreating from the kitchen, Gine resumed her work with a sigh. She was only going to make enough for two, unless Bardock told her otherwise. When a few minutes later, those thunderous footsteps returned, Gine smirked to herself expectantly.

"Gine, he says he'll be back in time for dinner.  _Three_  meals."

Bardock crashed into his chair, returning to his work in a brutish manner as he hunched over tightly and put all his focus on fixing Raditz's most recently busted scouter. He was getting tired of that shit. Purges were always causing damage to scouters, but it would be nice if someone else would fix the damn things for a change. This was eating into his training time too much! Gine did enough cooking and work at the meat market – Bardock wouldn't dream of asking her to do it. But those idiot sons of his kept shirking the task every time he gave it to them. Kakarot used every excuse in the books not to do it, while Raditz was conveniently absent most of the time.

Of course, Bardock knew exactly where to find his eldest son when he wasn't around or off on a purge. Raditz was always with Leeka in her shitty little apartment. But at least she wasn't taking her parents and all the shit they provided for granted, like her boyfriend was.

"What are you thinking about?"

The subdued voice of his woman broke Bardock from his thoughts. Blinking back into reality, he turned in his chair to see a much calmer Gine depositing chopped vegetables into a steaming pot on the stove.

When their eyes met, she smiled. It was that same, heartbreaking smile she used to give him when they first met. Bardock couldn't help responding in kind.

"I was thinking about Raditz…and Leeka."

"Oh," Gine smiled and nodded, before turning back to her work, "I heard she was having contractions today."

"Hm." Bardock hummed disinterestedly. "Guess it's about time. I'm the only one on the team that's  _not_  a grandparent yet."

Gine perked, turning with her spoon-holding hand on her armored hip to face Bardock. "Seripa's a grandmother? I didn't think she had any children."

"She had a fling with a second class soldier before she joined the crew." Bardock groaned, more focused on his irritating work than their conversation. "A kid came out of it and  _he_  had a kid a few years back."

"Oh." Gine frowned, turning to her work when she sensed Bardock's lack of interest in continuing that conversation.

Her brows knit together as she resumed cooking, thinking back on their team and all the times they'd had together. She did miss it. She hardly had enough of a chance to fight living this homebound lifestyle she'd tied herself to. Sometimes, she thought killing was a price she'd be willing to pay to fight like that again. But then, when Bardock or her sons had time to spar, they could really give her a run for her money. Sparring with them had to be enough for now. She knew she'd be killed on a purge, and  _that_  price wasn't worth the thrill of the fight.

She couldn't even look forward to the arrival of her grandchild. When the baby would be born, if it's power level was low, it would likely be shipped off - just as most third class babies were - just as Kakarot had been. And when the child would return years later, it would be defiant, arrogant, and uncaring- just as all purge babies were - just as Kakarot had been.

Gine sighed as she stirred the pot, the only things making her feel better in the moment being the delicious smells wafting from the meat cooking in the oven and Bardock's silent company. She couldn't look forward to challenging battles, she couldn't look forward to a new grandchild, and she couldn't look forward to a good night with Bardock, seeing the attitude he'd had so far. She wondered if he really did know about her arrangement with the king. How would he have found out? Whether he knew or not, the thoughts of it were already putting a strain on their relationship. And aside from some good food to fill her grumbling stomach, Gine knew something else she had to look forward to and was dreading. Another meeting with King Vegeta.

 


	4. Saiyan Parenting

  
  


The room was stark white, lit intensely by fluorescent bulbs on the ceiling. Raditz couldn't understand how anyone could possibly sleep in the place, but amazingly, Leeka was laying in that hospital bed sound asleep when he arrived. That just showed him how draining childbirth had to be. Sighing and bracing his hands on his knees, Raditz sat in the chair beside Leeka's hospital bed, across from the empty infant chamber nestled beneath the window. Raditz narrowed his eyes as he pushed aside a kinky lock of long black hair from Leeka's restful, pale visage. With her eyes closed so serenely like that, and her pink lips slightly parted as she breathed shallow breaths, Raditz almost forgot how much of a bitch she was when conscious.

Shaking his head, Raditz leaned back in his chair and contemplated what he was even doing there. With the baby sent off-world already, Leeka was only going to wake up more pissed than usual. This sure as hell wasn't where he wanted to be when that happened. And he had training to do, if those elite snobs on his team were ever going to start taking him seriously.

"Are you the father?"

Raditz glanced over his shoulder to see the alien in white labcoat and green scouter entering the room with his stout nose shoved in the book in his hand. Raditz turned in his chair when the doctor reached the foot of the hospital bed, dropping his book by his side to eye the monitors at Leeka's bedside.

"Was it a boy or a girl?"

The doctor raised his blue, scaled brows and met Raditz's stoic gaze, taking Raditz's follow-up question as confirmation to  _his_  question. "Do you really care? You Saiyans always seem so cold and indifferent to your young."

Raditz scoffed. "Haven't you heard? The child's third class trash. What the fuck should I care about it?" When the doctor grimaced and directed his gaze ashamedly towards the floor, Raditz relaxed in his seat. "Nevertheless, I am curious."

"It's a girl."

At the surprising third voice in the room, Raditz and the doctor snapped their heads to the bed.

"A beautiful baby girl with jet black long hair and a soft brown tail." When Leeka narrowed her eyes with a malicious look, Raditz clenched his teeth. "And a power level of three, but you already know that. So don't worry. You'll probably never need to see her, Raditz."

Raditz snorted and rolled his eyes. "Quit being melodramatic, Leeka. When the brat returns in six to ten years, you probably won't want anything to do with her either."

At Leeka's baring of teeth and vicious growl, the doctor took a wary step towards the door. "I'll just...let you two talk."

"Leeka..." Raditz groaned, while casting a nervous sideways glance towards the doctor disappearing through the doorway.

"If you weren't going to bother coming when she was still  _here_ , Raditz," Leeka growled as she pushed herself upright and her tail whipped against the side of her bed, "then why the fuck did you bother coming here at all?!"

"Dammit, Leeka!" Raditz jolted from his seat to dodge the metal cup by Leeka's beside chucked at him with the speed of a ki blast. "I came for  _you_!"

"Liar!"

Raditz dodged the remote thrown by his lover, wincing as he caught a glimpse of the way Leeka's tail repeatedly lashed against the bed frame in irritation. "Leeka, calm down!"

Leeka's shrill scream was accompanied by the small blast of ki she shot towards Raditz, which singed his arm and blasted a hole through the wall behind him.

The explosion caused an uproar in the hall outside. "What's going on in-"

Raditz turned a warning glare on the orderly entering the room. "Stay out of this!"

Leeka's growl caused Raditz to turn back to her, too late, while the orderly stumbled back to the safety of the hall. Raditz was met with a fist colliding hard with his face.

"Liar!"

"Shit!" Raditz stumbled back and clutched his bleeding face in his hands.

As Raditz smeared the blood from his lip with the back of his hand, Leeka crossed her arms and smiled smugly. "Admit it."

"Fine." Raditz spat blood on the sanitized hospital flooring. "I wanted to know the kid's power level."

Leeka tossed her head back and laughed. "Because you actually thought a spawn of  _yours_  might be born with a high power level?"

Raditz clenched his jaw and glowered silently at Leeka. That mocking remark was more painful than her punches or any other insults she'd ever thrown his way before.

"Raditz, sometimes you are so ridiculous it's cute."

"I'm not being ridiculous." Raditz scoffed. "You see what's been happening. Don't act like you don't notice."

"All I notice," Leeka crossed her arms and wrapped her tail around the waist of her long, boxy hospital gown, "is that I just had to watch my daughter be sent away at birth because I made the stupid mistake of fucking a third class jerk."

"I knew you'd start throwing that class shit at me to deflect the conversation, Leeka."

"I'm not deflec-"

"Ignorant second class woman or not," Raditz glared firmly to stop Leeka as she was about to interrupt, "you  _do_  see what's happening with the third class. You just don't want to admit it."

"I admit that you've gotten stronger, Raditz. And your brother-"

Raditz's eyes widened as he spoke in an excited whisper. " _All_  of us, Leeka. Things are changing."

Leeka rolled her black eyes and turned away, but Raditz grasped her by the shoulders and pulled her into his arms. "As far as the baby, we  _will_  see her again. She'll survive her mission, because she's a Saiyan and because she carries  _our_  warrior blood."

Leeka pushed against Raditz's chest. "Raditz."

Raditz grasped Leeka forcefully, opening his mouth to say more, but instead deciding to end his argument with the combative woman by planting his lips hard against hers. Leeka flinched from the bruising kiss at first, but quickly relaxed in his arms and responded in kind, running her hand through Raditz's long hair while pulling his face closer to hers as she devoured his moist lips and tongue in a passionate kiss. When she ended the kiss and pulled away, Leeka smiled and sighed. "Do you even want to know her name?"

Raditz breathed in the intoxicatingly scented hair blanketing Leeka's soft neck. "What is it?"

"Auberga."

Raditz hummed into the warm crease between Leeka's neck and shoulder, not really caring what the kid was called. There was a strong possibility that they would never meet her, so any notions of attachment at this point would be a waste. If she completed her mission and returned to Vegeta, then Raditz could worry about remembering the brat's name. He just hoped that like Kakarot, his daughter would return to Vegeta with a much higher power level than that with which she left. He was fairly confident she would.

* * *

Breathy pants and grunts filled the air. The bed repeatedly thumped against the wall, shaking with every thrust Gine was receiving. Her head snapped back as her hair was violently pulled, causing her to gasp as the long line of her sweat-soaked neck was exposed to her lover on his knees behind her. When he violently trembled, filling and stretching her to the core as he finally reached his climax, Gine collapsed onto the bed in relief.

"Ah, that was fantastic."

Gine nuzzled her cheek into the softness of the sheets and closed her eyes. "Glad I could please you, my King."

"No need to be snarky, Gine."

"I wasn't."

 _She was._  Masking her animosity behind a veil of pleasantries was the only safe way to be snarky with the king. He was getting to know her too well.

"Whatever." King Vegeta scoffed while climbing off the bed and collecting his clothing and Gine's. After looking them over and separating his articles of clothing from hers, Vegeta tossed Gine's clothing into her face. "Get dressed. Time to go."

Gine sighed and crumpled the clothing in her hands. "Do we always have to end it with those words?"

"what words would you prefer?" The king smirked down at Gine as she kicked her legs over the side of the bed. "See you the next time I need someone to fuck?"

Gine screwed her face and forcefully quelled her anger that was threatening to rise to the surface. Finding herself unable to fully contain herself, Gine turned her face away from the king and muttered obscenities into her shoulder.

" _What's_  that?" The king taunted. "Suddenly forgot how to work that talented tongue of yours?"

 _Fuck you._ Gine forcefully pulled her stretchy tank over her head. "I'll see you next time, your highness."

As Gine hurriedly stepped into her elastic pants and then retrieved her armor, the King huffed and dressed himself into more regal attire. Gine was surprised to see him donning his cape over his armor with the royal crest and the medallion he usually only wore for special occasions. But when she shrugged it off and slipped out his door, she was even more surprised by the unexpected presence she ran into in the hall.

Gine's eyes went wide and she gasped as soon as the prince laid his eyes on her. "Prince Tarble!"

Shaking her head at her forgetfulness, Gine quickly fell to one knee and bowed her head. Maybe if she'd done that sooner, she wouldn't have to worry about being sighted.

Tarble narrowed his eyes first at the short spikes of hair on the head of the woman bowing before him, then at the door swinging closed behind her. His father's private chamber door. It was nothing new to him, seeing a woman, or even occasionally a man slinking out that doorway. What alarmed him though, was the familiarity of that woman. He knew her from somewhere outside of the palace.

"Stand." Tarble demanded, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at the woman's face as she stood. "Don't I know you?"

"Excuse me, my prince." Gine stood, but kept her head bowed. "I was just leaving."

When Gine brushed past the solid form of the young prince, Tarble turned and frowned. "I asked you a question."

Gine halted and bit her lip. "Please, Prince Tarble, don't-"

"Ah, I know!" Tarble smiled in realization as the familiarity of that woman's features finally occurred to him. "Raditz!"

Gine's eyes widened as she grimaced and refused to turn and face the prince again. "What?"

"You're Raditz's mother, aren't you? What are  _you_  doing here? I don't think  _third class_  has ever been my father's type."

"Type?" Gine swallowed. "I don't know what you're-"

"Don't worry." Tarble stepped around to face the woman and winked at her as soon as he caught her eye. "I won't tell anyone."

Tarble's face fell after the comment struck a painful chord of realization. He definitely wasn't telling anyone, because he couldn't now even if he wanted to. At least, not anyone on this planet.

"Excuse me, Prince Tarble." Gine's face flushed as she ducked away from the awkward situation. "I really must be going."

Not a second after Gine turned and hustled down the hall, the king's door swung open. Tarble took a deep breath as his father emerged looking just as surprised to see him as Raditz's mother had been.

"Tarble." The king slowly closed the door behind him as he narrowed his eyes at his son. His eyes flitted down the hall to the back of the woman hurriedly absconding down the hall, then back to his son again, who wore a shit-eating grin.

"Father."

"You were supposed to wait for me outside." As his son continued smiling, the king scoffed before a hard glare crossed his face. "Are you ready to leave, then?"

The king breezed past his son without waiting for a response, his flowing red cape cascading across the outline of his son's figure as he passed.

Tarble frowned and stalked after his father. "Are you ready to explain  _that_?"

"I don't explain anything to anyone." The king's voice became laden with disgust. "Especially  _you_."

Tarble scowled at his feet as he walked behind his father. He was resentful of his father's decision. He may not have had the desire for fighting and bloodshed like other Saiyans, but Tarble had pride. And being exiled for his weakness was a humiliation of which he wanted no part. The way his father saw him now - he was  _ashamed_  of his own son for having principles different from the others.

"Is Vegeta ready?"

Tarble gasped at his father's sudden disruption of their silent, hasty walk through the castle halls. "He's at the Launchpad, waiting."

"Good." King Vegeta straightened his medallion and cape at his shoulders as the door they were heading to came into view straight ahead. "I want to get this over with."

"Father." Tarble stopped himself, glaring as he couldn't bring himself to spew the sentimental bullshit he almost wanted to say.

At Tarble's hesitation, the king winced, sensing the palpable tension in that deserted hall. When he reached the door, he barred his arm across it, stopping Tarble before they could be exposed to the others. "Tarble."

When his father averted his gaze, scowling at the dark corner rather than looking at Tarble, Tarble raised his brows expectantly. "Father?"

"I always wanted you to be a great warrior, like myself and your brother. But as much as it pains me to say it, I know now that will never happen. You've failed our planet and our bloodline, and I can no longer call you my son."

Tarble pressed his lips tightly together and scowled at his feet, until he felt a hand forcing his chin upwards, directing him to meet his father's gaze.

"Still, I was too weak to order your death. You've shamed me now in more ways than one."

Tarble tried to resist, but he couldn't help the softening of his gaze as his father spoke those bittersweet words. The moment quickly ended when his father hardened his expression again.

"Whatever happens in your life on your planet of exile, Tarble, I hope you toughen up enough to survive."

"Father." Tarble opened his mouth to say more, but simply settled for nodding. He knew anything he might say now would only sicken and disgust his father, or at least that his father would make it appear that way. Now that he'd said goodbye, Tarble knew he might as well already be dead in his father's eyes. His exile was welcome at this point. The Saiyan way was too harsh of a lifestyle for his taste.

When King Vegeta opened the door to the outside, he found Vegeta and his most trusted two elite guards gathered out there as he had ordered them. Vegeta stood with arms crossed, scowling into the distant, dark sky and looking irritated by the wait, while Nappa and Zorn both immediately fell to one knee and bowed their heads.

Tarble assumed a position by his brother's side, wishing to say goodbye to him, though he knew that goodbye would probably have to be reduced to a comfortable silence with Vegeta.

Vegeta sneered at the hovering presence of his brother, finding it annoying that Tarble had to stand so close and obviously was expecting something out of him. When Vegeta remained impassive, he saw his brother's shoulders sagging in disappointment. Vegeta glared at him. "Don't look so pathetic."

"Pathetic? That's all you have to say?" Tarble clenched his fists by his sides as Vegeta turned away dismissively.

His brother was such an asshole. He'd make a perfect future ruler of Vegeta, just as their father wanted. They were so alike in many ways. As the king began a sendoff speech meant for all four of his witnesses, but only being listened to by the two guards, Tarble glared at the shiny, royal spaceship prepped and waiting for him. He couldn't leave Planet Vegeta with his pride wounded like this. As an idea occurred to him, Tarble turned to his brother with a smirk.

While his father continued his speech, Tarble addressed Vegeta in a low voice. "You and our father have a lot in common, Vegeta."

Vegeta smiled smugly into the distance. "I know. We are both super elites named for the power of our planet, and fearsome rulers of Vegeta."

"That's not  _all_  you have in common."

At Tarble's snicker, Vegeta furrowed his brows with a questioning grunt.

"First there was you and Kakarot and then...well," Tarble shrugged, "if I'd seen the trend earlier, I would've fucked Raditz before being sent away from this shithole."

Vegeta turned to frown at his brother, his brows knitting tightly in confusion. "What the hell are you trying to say?"

"Just that I'm sorry I didn't keep it in the family."

Vegeta studied his brother a moment longer before narrowing his gaze at the launchpad again. "There _is_  no 'me and Kakarot'."

Tarble nodded. "Sure there's not."

Vegeta growled in frustration. "I will not lower myself to the same level as third class trash."

Tarble smiled. "And yet..."

Vegeta bared his teeth and growled at his brother loudly and disruptively enough to draw the attention of their father and the guards.

"Done saying your goodbyes?" King Vegeta interrupted his speech with a raised brow as he witnessed the animosity occurring between his sons. "Good. Time to go, Tarble."

Tarble gave his brother a final glance. "Oh well, Vegeta. If you ever get over your elitist bullshit, maybe you can actually be with him again."

Vegeta crossed his arms. "Enjoy your exile, you little shit."

"Not nearly as much as you'll enjoy your bloodshed, Vegeta." Tarble answered with a mocking bow.

Vegeta raised his middle finger as Tarble turned his back on him, approaching their father to board his ship and never show his face on Planet Vegeta again. As much as he disapproved of Tarble's peaceful disposition, Vegeta supposed he should appreciate it. If Tarble had been more like himself, Vegeta would have competition for the throne - competition that would likely kill him in his sleep in order to take it. Now that Tarble was gone, his inheritance of the throne was solidified.

As Tarble reached his ship, placing his hand on the edge of the hatch and stilling for a moment, King Vegeta took a deep breath. His two guards knew now what this meant to him, and how important it was that no one else on the planet ever knew where Tarble went. If Vegeta caught wind of his location, it was possible he'd send someone to finish his brother. If other Saiyans knew he was still alive, their respect for their king would be significantly diminished.

Bracing his fist to his chest in the way of a royal salute, King Vegeta gave his son a nod. "Fly safely, Tarble."

Tarble gave his father a small smile and nod. "Goodbye, Father."

With one last glance at his scowling brother and the stoic guards standing side by side, Tarble lowered his head and ducked into the ship. There were enough provisions packed in that ship to sustain him for a few weeks wherever he landed. He knew he'd start a new life and survive on his own. He just hoped when he started this new life, his memories of his past on Vegeta wouldn't haunt him.

* * *

When Kakarot arrived home after landing from a purge, he slammed the door behind him and threw his scouter on the nearest table. Then he hoisted the large chunk of meat he'd taken home as a trophy from that purge. He was sure his mother could make something really good of the strange meat, seeing that it had tasted so good unseasoned and roasted over a flame. Kakarot kicked his boots off at the door, which banged against the wall as he made his way towards the hall.

Kakarot's noisy arrival drove his father to emerge from the kitchen with a glare. "What the fuck, Kakarot? Do you always have to announce your presence so loudly?"

Kakarot met his father's scolding gaze and smirked. "Not always."

"How about not ever?"

"I'll try, Father." Kakarot inclined his head to look past Bardock and frowned. "Where's Mom?"

Bardock turned his head and scoffed. Where was she, indeed. He always knew his woman would come home to him, but this disappearing act was getting old. The fact that she was careful to be discreet about her secret excursions and hadn't stained his reputation with her activities showed Bardock that she cared. Still, she needed to be reminded of her priorities.

Kakarot frowned at Bardock impatiently and shook the sack of meat dangling from his grip. "I brought Tukagi meat home. I want her to cook it for dinner tonight."

Bardock turned to his son with a smirk. "I  _wish_  she was home right now. I'd love to see what she'd do to you for walking in the door and immediately demanding she cook for you."

Kakarot grimaced and took a wary look around. Once he realized his mother really wasn't home and he had nothing to fear, he smiled slyly at his father. "I'll leave the meat on the counter. Maybe if she gets back while I'm gone,  _you_  can tell her to cook it."

"Me?" Bardock chuckled. "I'm not as masochistic as you, Kakarot."

"Really?" Kakarot crossed his arms. "Because I'm pretty sure every time you and mom get in a fight, it ends  _nicely_  for you."

When Kakarot wiggled his brows suggestively, Bardock couldn't help snorting in amusement. It was true that their fights almost always led to heated make-up sex, which their boys knew too well. He couldn't believe his son was the one suggesting it. Then again, Kakarot would plant just about any seed to get what he wanted, which in this instance, was dinner.

"You know, there's a good chance that if _I_  tell your mother, I'll keep Gine too busy to cook that meat tonight."

Kakarot's smile fell as he gaped at his father.

"But you make a good point, Kakarot. Thanks for the suggestion."

As Bardock turned away and retreated into the kitchen, Kakarot's bare footsteps stormed after him. Kakarot lugged the heavy sack of meat onto the kitchen counter and braced both hands on the table as Bardock sat down again to peruse the papers he'd been reading before Kakarot cake home.

"Wait. Maybe you shouldn't-"

"I'm busy, Kakarot. Weren't you leaving?"

Kakarot growled in frustration and huffed as he paced beside the table. His father wasn't going to back down. Selfish bastard. Now Kakarot was aggravated, knowing he was looking forward to that great meal since bagging the meat on his purge, and now he was still going to have to continue waiting for it. He should have listened to Kanna and let  _her_  cook it for him, though she wasn't as good a cook as his mother, and now it was too late to ask her because she had other plans. But he needed to release his frustration somehow.

He turned a hopeful eye on the back of Bardock's head. "Dad, wanna spar?"

"No."

"Aw, c'mon. Forget about those boring papers."

"Fuck off, Kakarot."

Kakarot frowned, took a breath and planted his hip against the kitchen counter. "Where's Raditz?"

Bardock sighed. "Last I heard, he went to the hospital."

Kakarot blinked. "What for?"

"For Leeka's baby, you moron."

"Oh, yeah." Kakarot smiled. "Congratulations,  _Grandpa_. So did you see it?"

"No."

"Do you know what it is?"

"A three."

"Eh," Kakarot crossed his arms and wrinkled his nose, "a weakling."

Bardock looked up from his work. "That's higher than  _yours_  was."

Kakarot glared bitterly. " _Not_  my fault. I blame my parentage."

Bardock raised a brow in challenge. "You want to repeat that to your mother?"

Kakarot gulped, causing his father to smirk as he watched Kakarot's Adam's apple bob and his tail swish small, anxious strokes in the air behind him.

"No, I didn't think so. Don't ever repeat it to  _me_  again, either."

"Why?" Kakarot's eyes lit with excitement. "You think you can beat me?"

Bardock chuckled. "Think?"

Kakarot met his father's gaze and smirked.

"Alright." Bardock glared with determination and stood aggressively from his seat. "That's it, boy! Let's go."

As Kakarot beamed and Bardock kicked in his chair with his tail wagging behind him in excitement, the front door slammed.

"Bardock! Boys!"

As Bardock whirled in the direction of the front door, Kakarot grit his teeth and growled in frustration.

Bardock clenched his fists as he caught sight of Gine's spiky head of hair bobbing through the doorway. "Gine! Where the fuck have you been?"

"Don't you dare greet me like that!" Gine yelled as she ran into the kitchen shaking her fist in the air. "I've had a long day, Bardock! I don't need any of your shit."

As his mother gasped at the sight of him, Kakarot smiled. "Hi, Mom."

"Kakarot!" Gine smiled at her son and looked around. "Raditz isn't back yet?"

"No," Bardock glanced over his shoulder and cast his son a devious smirk. "but Kakarot brought home a big kill for dinner. I'm sure if you start right away you can have it cooked for us before Raditz gets home."

Gine glared hard at Bardock. "What?!"

As Bardock chuckled deviously, Kakarot turned away from them and rolled his eyes. "Ah, fuck."

Gine shoved Bardock. "You're such an asshole! You want the meat so bad that it's the first thing you have to say to me?  _You_ fucking cook it!"

"If I have to settle for  _my_  mediocre cooking, what the hell am I living with  _you_  for?"

Kakarot crossed his arms and grumbled. "Laying it on a little thick, Dad."

"Kakarot!" Gine yelled. "Why don't you go find your brother?"

"Yeah." Bardock grunted. "Your mother and I have things to work out."

Kakarot shook his head and plucked his sack of meat from the counter before heading out of the kitchen. "I'm taking this with me, and I won't be back tonight."

"Leave the meat, Kakarot."

Kakarot didn't heed his mother's command until he felt a resistant tug on his sack of meat. "Mom!"

"I said  _leave_  it!"

Kakarot turned a desperate gaze on his father. "Dad, c'mon!"

"What are you looking at me for?  _I'm_  not letting you take that meat."

"Do you know how long I've been waiting to taste that?"

As Gine yanked the meat out of Kakarot's grip, Bardock raised his fist in Kakarot's face. "You'll be waiting a lot longer if you need to spend time in a tank tonight."

"You can't overpower  _me_  anymore, Old man. I've gotten much stronger since the last time we fought."

"The only person Bardock's going to be fighting tonight," Gine said as she stepped between the men and glared up at the face of her handsome, scar-faced lover, "is me."

"No fight, no food," Kakarot took a step back, shook his head and sighed, "life was so much easier when I lived alone."

"I agree." Bardock said as he reached for Gine and pulled her against him. "Now why don't you get out?"

"Bardock..." Gine grumbled as she shoved out of his grasp, but Bardock pulled her to him again.

Kakarot rolled his eyes and turned to leave the kitchen empty handed. He wasn't sure where he was going yet, but he sure as hell wasn't staying there, and he wasn't going to find Raditz. He grabbed his scouter on the way to the door and slammed it closed behind him.

"Bardock," Gine dodged a kiss Bardock aimed for her lips, "you shouldn't have done that to him."

Bardock grunted in disagreement and slipped his hand over the curve of Gine's hip. "You spoil the kid."

Gine moaned as Bardock nipped at her lips, then at her neck. "No, I don't."

"Yes." Bardock grabbed Gine by the hair and gave a sharp tug. "You do."

Gine released a breathy whimper at Bardock's forceful treatment and threatening demeanor, but with her neck fully exposed to him, his muscular body pressed against hers, and the fingers of his other hand clasping tightly around her ass, she could already feel herself getting wet.

"I think I'm spoiling  _you_." Gine smirked as she ran her hand over the hard form of Bardock's chest covered in nothing but the smooth, elastic fabric of his black training uniform.

Bardock released Gine's hair and smothered her lips with a bruising kiss, breathing her in as her soft, delicious lips crushed and massaged against his. "I prefer when you punish me."

"Mm." Gine spoke into Bardock's lips and pressed her core against the hard bulge contained in Bardock's training suit as his hand roamed even lower on her ass and squeezed. "Bardock..."

At the sudden action of Bardock unexpectedly throwing her back onto the kitchen table, Gine yelped in surprise. But when his body was on hers again, his rock solid cock grinding against the elastic between her legs, Gine smiled and tossed her head back, not caring that there were papers and writing instruments on the table near her head.

"Maybe  _I_ ," Bardock growled as he eased himself down the length of Gine's body and peeled back the elastic waistband of her pants, "should punish  _you_."

"Oh," Gine sucked in a breath as Bardock planted his lips on the wet material covering her pussy as soon as the pants were peeled away, " _that's_  a change."

Bardock pulled away from her for a moment to fully remove the pants to expose Gine's smooth, shapely legs, but dove right back in as the intoxicating, sweet scent of her arousal filled his nose and lungs.

Bardock pulled Gine's panties aside, just before she felt a wet tongue lapping between her folds. Gine arched her back and gasped as Bardock put a stilling hand on Gine's hip as he tasted her essence, sucking on the engorged nub that made his wife squirm and writhe all over the table.

"Why..." Gine panted, "why are you turning the tables all of a...all of a sudden?"

Bardock squeezed his hand around Gine's inner thigh, stilling her as she moved around more and her breathing became more labored. Giving her a little nip of teeth on that sensitive nub, Bardock peered through his black hanging bangs and hooded lashes at the woman sprawled on the table. The addicting woman. The enraptured woman. The deceptive woman.

Her eyes panned down the length of her body to meet his. "Why don't I punish you and suck on that huge cock?"

Bardock groaned, nearly taking her up on that offer that was so tempting, but instead forced himself to resist by grabbing her by the hip and flipping her onto her stomach. Bardock ignored Gine's body language that expressed a question and freed his engorged cock by yanking down his pants. When his cock sprang free to slap against Gine's smooth backside, Bardock guided it into her wet, tight hole in one deep, harsh thrust that made Gine gasp as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Because  _you've_  been bad, Gine. Not me."

"Bardock!" Gine's eyes bulged in alarm when Bardock slammed into her a second time.

It felt so good, but it also hurt. His cock wasn't the source of her pain, though. Not that he wasn't violent with the thing, but it felt good when he slammed deep inside her. Not just good. It felt fucking  _great_  to have him filling her to the core.

The pain wasn't physical. What hurt was the love Bardock put into it. With every thrust and every run of his calloused hands over her curves, around her hips and along her tail, it felt like he was telling her he loved her.  _And_  it felt like he was telling her that he knew. He knew all about the betrayal, the sneaking off, the lies. He was probably even picturing the king thrusting into her while they were fucking. The thoughts of his pain brought tears to her eyes, but Gine lowered her head and hid her tears.

"Dammit, Gine!" Bardock clenched his eyes shut as he picked up speed, thrusting harder and faster into the woman bent over the table who he couldn't get enough of, who would have been causing him pain if his pride wasn't fighting it so strongly. No, instead of feeling pain, he would claim her, own her, make sure every inch of her body and soul belonged to him and no one else. No one would ever make her feel the way he could. No one would ever evoke such feelings from her as he could. But fighting that kind of pain was more of a difficult battle than he would have ever expected.

"Ba...Bardock..." Gine's head bobbed as she whimpered and took Bardock's relentless pounding and felt him tremble against her. She clenched her fingers tightly around the lip of the shaking, creaking table.

Bardock grit his teeth as he felt his climax coming, the scent of Gine's wagging tail in his face and the sound of her quivering voice driving him over the edge. "Fuck!"

Gine shivered as she felt Bardock filling her with his seed, his hands clasping tightly over her shoulders as she trembled and cried out with him and they rode their climax together. He was the only one who could do that to her. No one else ever made her feel anything that intense. She closed her eyes and rested her head on the kitchen table as Bardock lazily pulled out of her. She could hear the shuffling of him dressing himself again, and she feared to open her eyes and see his face or hear what he had to say.

Bardock scowled as he watched Gine averting her gaze from him and collecting her pants from the ground. He had so many things he wanted to say to her, but every time he thought about opening his mouth, he decided what he was going to say was better left unsaid. It was all better left unsaid.

When Gine fixed her clothing and finally worked up the courage to face her husband, she was relieved to see indecision, rather than anger or hurt in his dark eyes. She took a deep breath and exhaled, but held it as Bardock finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Just how strong is he now?"

Gine blinked. "Huh?"

"Kakarot." Bardock crossed his arms and furrowed his brows. "He claims I can't beat him because he's gotten stronger.  _You've_  seen the boy fight lately, haven't you?"

"Yes." Gine smiled proudly. "He's amazing, Bardock. Reminds me of you moving up in the ranks when you were younger."

As Gine pressed her lips together and turned her head with a pensive expression, Bardock narrowed his eyes at her. "And?"

"And nothing." Gine shrugged. "Well, except…he's even been picking fights with the elites lately."

Bardock cocked a brow. "Elites? I heard some nonsense about him provoking Prince Vegeta a while back-"

"No." Gine said sharply. "No. This isn't like  _that_. This…this is him getting cocky. Maybe too cocky."

"But he's still alive. If he's holding his own, he must have the power to back up that arrogance."

Gine sighed and shook her head dismissively. She didn't need to let her husband know just how close her son had come to death because of his behavior already. They had already come too close to having  _that_  conversation only a few minutes ago. She was impressed by Kakarot, though. Not by his behavior, but by his strength and fighting ability. Her entire family was beginning to amaze her. She was getting stronger too, though she couldn't hold a candle to  _their_  ever-growing power. She had a feeling, though, that something wasn't right. Something was putting her at unease.

"Why don't you cook that meat now?" Bardock said. "Seeing how excited Kakarot was about it, I'm sure it's going to taste great."

Gine narrowed her eyes at her husband. "Are you trying to provoke me again?"

"No." Bardock smirked. "Just hungry."

"I guess I worked up an appetite, too." Gine smiled as Bardock left the kitchen with a casual demeanor. She went to the large slab of meat, picking it up and slamming it hard on the kitchen counter in an attempt at tenderizing it. She was sure Bardock and Kakarot were right. Dinner was going to be great that night.

 


	5. The Fun Begins

  
  


In the cool, calm darkness of a well-guarded bedroom, Vegeta slept peacefully in the palace. His head was full of violent dreams of his next upcoming purge in the morning, until he was rudely awakened by a hand slapping harshly over his mouth.

"Shhh!" The sharp whisper made Vegeta's twitching eyes snap to the dark outline of a spiky-haired figure hovering over his bedside. "If they hear us, we won't be able to have any fun."

After the hand slowly drifted away, his expression morphed from one of puzzlement to awed realization. Vegeta sat up in bed and glared at the man who he still couldn't see, but whose voice and scent he clearly recognized. "What the fuck are you doing here? Don't you see I'm sleeping, you moron?!"

Two hands raised in mock surrender, their outline barely visible against the other shadows of the room. "You  _were_  sleeping."

Vegeta growled and kicked his feet over the side of the bed, prompting his intruder to take a few cautious steps backwards. "You! Don't you ever lay a filthy hand on me again without my permission!"

When Vegeta stood and aimed a forcful punch at his intruder's head, the intruder caught Vegeta's fist in his palm and smiled. "I thought you already gave me permission, Vegeta."

Vegeta grunted in disbelief when the intruder pressed his lips softly against Vegeta's restrained fist.

"I remember you  _begging_  me to touch you."

Vegeta retracted his fist to his side. "Fuck you, Kakarot! Low class scum like you shouldn't be stepping foot anywhere in this palace, let alone in my private chambers! How...how did you get in here anyways?"

Kakarot chuckled and placed his hands on his hips. "Wondering how I got past all the guards, huh?"

Vegeta growled. "Obviously!"

Kakarot leaned his face down to closely meet Vegeta's gaze, even as Vegeta flinched from him. "I used a new technique. You were busy talkin' to Nappa and some other elite jerk earlier, so I decided to grab a bite to eat while I waited. You've got some  _great_  food here in the castle, Vegeta. And then I-"

"You couldn't possibly make your way around the kitchens without being seen." Vegeta shook his head briskly. "Someone would've sniffed you out and captured you."

"Uh-uh." Kakarot shook his head and grinned. "Thanks to something I picked up on one of my last purges, they can't track me, and they'll never know I was here."

"You mean my  _father_  will never know you were here."

"Right."

"Good for you, but I'm still considering calling the guards so I can watch your annoying ass get executed for soiling my chambers with your presence."

Kakarot smirked and shook his head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Vegeta. When those guards come running to find you here all alone, it'll only make you look crazy. Wouldn't want  _Daddy_  hearing about that, now would you?"

Vegeta furrowed his brows and subconsciously took a step towards Kakarot. "What are you-you're not making any sense!"

"Don't you see how great this is, Vegeta? I can come see you any time now and no one has to know."

Vegeta crossed his arms. "Who says I  _want_  to see you?"

"I do."

As Kakarot moved in to wrap his arms around Vegeta, Vegeta shoved against Kakarot's chest and brusquely forced him away. "Well, I  _don't_. You need to leave."

Kakarot balked, but then crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Vegeta. "Your  _father_  doesn't want you to see me."

" _I_ don't want to see you!"

Kakarot glowered, his eyes shining through the darkness. "You always do what Daddy tells you to? I thought you were above taking orders, Vegeta."

"I do whatever the fuck I want to do! Got that?"

Vegeta approached Kakarot, raising his fist threateningly until a heated look crossed Kakarot's face. As his eyes met Kakarot's, Vegeta froze, expelling a heavy breath. The look in Kakarot's eyes made Vegeta feel a sudden thickness in his throat. His breathing became more labored as Kakarot flashed a smile enhanced by that gorgeous, chiseled jawline and those expressive dark eyes of his.

"So what is it that you  _want_  to do, Vegeta?"

As Kakarot's eyes hungrily panned up and down Vegeta's naked, toned chest and loose boxers, his demeanor and body language became suggestive in every sense of the word.

Taking in the taut, bunching muscles under typical Saiyan armor, and the cocky smirk on his intruder's handsome face, Vegeta grit his teeth, and finally growled. "Get the fuck out of my chambers, Kakarot. I'm going back to sleep."

Kakarot's smile fell as a look of bewilderment crossed his face. "Wha-? Vegeta!"

"Next time you decide to come in here unannounced," Vegeta said as he slipped back beneath his covers and turned his back to Kakarot, "I'll kill you myself."

Closing his eyes, Vegeta waited for a retort. When that didn't come, he expected to hear the door close with Kakarot's exit. As he clung to the blankets and curled his tail beneath the sheets, the extended silence became uncomfortable. Finally, he could no longer bear the suspicion that Kakarot was still standing there behind him, watching him in bed. With a sudden twist, Vegeta turned to face Kakarot, only to find that there was no trace of him left.

Well, that wasn't true. His heady scent still lingered, remaining there to torment Vegeta for the night. The prince dismissed his curiosity about how Kakarot had so instantly appeared and disappeared in his room, and instead regretted his decision to dismiss him. Refusing Kakarot's offer of 'fun' was extremely difficult. Vegeta could never forget the way Kakarot tasted, the way Kakarot touched him, the things Kakarot could do to him that no female ever could. And with his scent lingering in the room, those memories were all the more vivid.

"Dammit!" Vegeta growled to himself, turning on his stomach to smother the burgeoning hard-on being produced by his uncontrollable thoughts of Kakarot.

The attempt to stifle his arousal only made matters worse, as the rubbing from his movements only further stimulated his neglected arousal. Lifting his hips, Vegeta reached below the sheets and slipped his fingers below his waistband to fist his rigid cock. He hissed in relief as he squeezed his warm fingers around it. He knew what his traitorous body wanted, even as he fought to quell any feelings he felt towards the third class Saiyan that  _didn't_  stem from hate. Vegeta damned the day that Raditz introduced him to his rebellious younger brother, who dared to challenge the prince. Now the cocky bastard was like a permanent stain that Vegeta couldn't wash out. He had become an unwanted obsession.

Vegeta moaned as he slid his hand over the bulging veins and smooth skin of his rigid cock. "Kakarot..."

With a shudder of pleasure, Vegeta repeated the stroking motion, while spreading his legs across the bed as he recalled the one time he'd allowed Kakarot to show him the type of ecstasy no Saiyan or alien had ever had the honor of sharing with him before.

Clenching his eyes shut, Vegeta thrust into his fist, gritting his teeth as he imagined Kakarot's face, Kakarot's powerful hands on him, Kakarot's voice...

"Did you change your mind yet?" The curious tone of that familiar voice was replaced by a deep, throaty chuckle that made Vegeta's eyes shoot open. "I guess  _so_."

"No!" Vegeta screamed as he released his cock to furiously whirl on his returning intruder and raise his open palm in lethal threat. "I did  _not_ change my mind!"

Kakarot stilled, keeping his eyes fixed on Vegeta's rigidly extended palm, though he wanted to fix his eyes on something  _else_  that was rigidly extending from the prince. But he knew all too well that Vegeta was serious about his threat. Kakarot had to be on-guard. But as his eyes flitted momentarily to the tent in Vegeta's boxers, Kakarot couldn't help licking his lips. When he fixed his gaze on Vegeta's face, he caught a momentary look from the prince that he decided to act upon.

With a wary step forward, Kakarot locked his eyes on Vegeta's and slowly lowered to his knees by the prince's bedside. "Vegeta, let me help you with that."

Vegeta's eyes widened as he followed Kakarot's gaze to his erect, throbbing cock, which seemed to have gotten stiffer, if anything, at the thoughts of splattering Kakarot's blood across his walls for this second intrusion. Several thoughts entered his mind as to how Kakarot could help him with this problem, which caused an intense shudder to rack his body before he could utter another stubborn refusal.

Taking Vegeta's trembling and lowering hand as permission to proceed, Kakarot shifted forward, snaking his fingers beneath the elastic that covered each of Vegeta's toned hips. When Kakarot felt a hand fall heavily atop his head, he froze, until Vegeta's fingers loosely threaded through his hair and urged him forward.

Kakarot took a deep breath as he slid the waistband down, exposing the tip of Vegeta's rigid length to his eyes. Vegeta's tail snaked out of the fallen boxers behind him, and Kakarot smiled at the sight and musky smell of it, deciding he made the right choice dropping in on Vegeta tonight.

Vegeta directed Kakarot's head forward with his firm grip and pressed his hips forward until the tip of his length was touching Kakarot's warm, soft lips. "Suck."

Kakarot didn't bother responding to the command as he parted his lips, allowing Vegeta to press in and shove his cock deep down the relaxing muscles of his throat. Humming at the sensation of Vegeta's silky, delicious cock against his sensitive tongue and lips, Kakarot looked up to meet Vegeta's gaze as the prince pulled out again with the obvious intent to slam back in. Kakarot's eyes rolled back in his head when the prince's cock slammed hard down his throat.

"Ohhhh..." Vegeta pressed his hips towards Kakarot's face at an upward angle, clenching his eyes shut as he began to slam his cock repeatedly down Kakarot's throat. When he looked down, there were tears seeping at the corners of Kakarot's eyes and garbled noises coming from his throat, but the look in his eyes told Vegeta he was enjoying this as well.

"I don't…know..." Vegeta shook his head and moaned as Kakarot's fingers adeptly grasped his swaying tail and stroked it in sync with the moist tongue stroking his cock. "...what you think is going to come of this, Ka-Kakarot."

Vegeta hissed and nearly fell forward as Kakarot responded by sucking hard and whirling his tongue along the underside of his cock, "I'm going to marry an elite, so none of this means any-anyth- ohhhh...fuck!"

As Kakarot grasped Vegeta firmly by the hips and started bobbing his head at an incredible speed, Vegeta loosened his grasp on Kakarot's black spikes of hair and lost all train of thought as his body lost control, letting Kakarot do his impressive work as Vegeta approached his release. The warm, wet, frenzied stroking of his cock urging him to completion, Vegeta moaned when he finally shot a forceful stream into the back of Kakarot's throat. After the final pulsewave of pleasure shot from his body with a final fulfilling thrust of his hips, Vegeta pushed Kakarot away and collapsed back into his bed.

Kakarot licked a drop of cum from his lips and stood to his feet to look Vegeta in the eye. "I understand, Vegeta. You need to marry an elite woman to make elite princes to take your throne. I've got women on the side, too."

"On the  _side_?" Vegeta's eye twitched as he adjusted his boxers and sat upright to glare at Kakarot's easygoing smile. "What is  _wrong_  with you? I'm telling you this is over! The queen of our planet has power which is second only to that of the king! She would be no  _side whore_!"

Kakarot slid onto the bed beside Vegeta and grasped Vegeta's hand, holding firm even as the prince violently tugged it. "That's not what  _you_  want, Vegeta." Kakarot kissed Vegeta's bare shoulder as Vegeta stubbornly turned his cheek away. "I know the king hates me, but-"

Vegeta grunted as he scooted away from Kakarot and turned his back on him. "My queen would hate you more, and you  _know_  you don't want to suffer the wrath of a jealous Saiyan woman."

Kakarot cringed at the warning, but then smiled as he fell backwards, sprawling across Vegeta's bed and bracing his hands beneath the pillow behind his head. "You could always marry some woman, get her pregnant, and then trade her for your mother after the baby's born. I'm sure Frieza won't object to taking a younger royal prisoner. And hey! That would solve all of our problems! You'd even have your mom back!" Kakarot grinned as Vegeta cast a disbelieving glance over his shoulder. "The king would  _thank_  me for saving his queen."

Vegeta slapped his hand over his face and groaned to himself, "why haven't I killed this lunatic yet?"

"Hey, Vegeta." Vegeta stood from the bed and then turned to look at Kakarot grasping his own hard cock through the fabric of his elastic pants. "Any chance of you reciprocating tonight?"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the stiff length in Kakarot's hand and snorted. "No."

Without hesitation, Vegeta approached the bed and shoved Kakarot out of it.

"Vegeta!" Kakarot groaned as he flipped out of the bed and stumbled to his feet.

"Now, get out of my room and this time, don't come back." Vegeta glared as he cast Kakarot a devious smirk. "Now that I've been satisfied, there will be nothing holding me back from killing you."

"Alright. I won't be back again." Kakarot met Vegeta's glare with a toothy smirk. "...Tonight."

Vegeta gasped as he witnessed Kakarot placing two fingers to his forehead before he instantaneously disappeared right before Vegeta's eyes. "What the...rrrghh...that bastard better not try this some  _other_  night!"

Vegeta plopped angrily into bed, tugging the covers viciously over his shoulders as he laid back in bed with a scowl on his face. Fucking Kakarot. That bastard always had to ruin things. Now Vegeta knew his rest wouldn't come this night due to his irritancy. At least Vegeta would be able to release his frustrations on a purge the next morning. Nothing improved his mood like blowing things up and getting blood on his hands.

* * *

"Come forward." The king's booming voice sent a shiver through every member of the team's spines, though none of them would admit it.

They all knew it to be true. They couldn't blame one another for being ready to shit themselves. One displeasing remark from any of them, and the king could blast them out of existence with the flick of his palm. The devilish bastard knew it too well. He enjoyed watching them tremble at the foot of his throne. Which was precisely the reason they all refused to let him see it.

"Now," King Vegeta rubbed his fingers through the bristling hairs of his beard as he narrowed his eyes at the four low class Saiyans approaching his throne, "which one of you is the leader again?"

Bardock barely stifled a growl, stepping in front of his entire crew, aside from Totapo, the only member who wasn't in the third class division. Conveniently, the elite Totapo had evaded this summons, which could only mean one thing. The king was singling them out based on their class, for one reason or another. Bardock suspected all purge teams had received this summons. This was all too fitting of events leading up to his premonition.

As Bardock's gaze met the king's, though he controlled his voice, his fury showed on his face. King Vegeta smirked at the sight of it. He knew very well that Bardock was the leader among them. He just questioned the leadership to pull the third class scum's tail, since Bardock's entire crew was acting so stubborn towards their king.

"Right, Bardock." King Vegeta sighed loudly as the Saiyan acknowledged with a reluctant bow of his head. "I've summoned you here to congratulate your crew. It seems you've maintained an excellent record on your recent purges."

Bardock narrowed his eyes suspiciously, before taking a glance back at his team. He knew that was not at all the reason for this summons. If it had been, Totapo would have been the first of their team to be summoned. Hell, the king would likely give him, and  _only_ him, a medal. Behind him, Seripa was staring aloofly at the king, arms crossed as she waited to hear more. Toma fleetingly met Bardock's gaze, nodding in acknowledgement as if he read Bardock's mind. Pumbukin was grinning like the fat idiot he was. He had no clue what kind of shit they were really in for.

With his grin stretching wider, Pumbukin stepped forward and took a bow. "Thank you, my King."

King Vegeta's mouth twitched at the edge of his smirk. "You're welcome, third class."

Pumbukin's smile turned down in a frown at the insult. He, as well as the rest of his team, had worked very hard to improve their status. They were by no means left behind in the same league as most third class Saiyans any longer. All of them, especially Bardock, had improved beyond the power levels deemed for the third class, even  _beyond_  the second class level. But the king would refuse to see that, it seemed, because of their status at birth.

A feminine voice broke the brief silence. "You don't waste your time commending third class Saiyans, King Vegeta. So why are we really here?"

Bardock glanced behind him at Seripa, who was tapping her bicep and narrowing her eyes at the king. Bardock knew exactly why they were really here, without having to be told. He knew Toma knew it, too, since he had already told his crew about this, though Toma was the only one who truly believed him.

"A woman who likes to get straight to the point." King Vegeta chuckled before shooting Bardock a toothy grin. "I like that in a woman, don't you, Bardock?"

"The quality serves its purpose on purges, your majesty."

"Yes." King Vegeta's eyes flitted from Bardock's intense scowl, over Toma and Pumpbukin's disconcerted gazes, to Seripa's stubborn frown. "It has served you very well, it seems. This latest planet your team purged, a third class team shouldn't have been able to purge it on their own."

"Yet, we did." Toma huffed.

"I know." King Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the tall Saiyan. "Without Totapo, somehow."

"He was taking his leave." Seripa said through clenched teeth. "That was common knowledge when the assignments were handed out, King Vegeta."

"Of course." King Vegeta leaned back and waved a hand dismissively. "He is at no fault for his absence."

"Then," Pumbukin stepped forward, clenching his fists by his sides, "why were we still sent on the mission if it was expected to be a greater challenge than we could handle?"

Bardock clenched his jaw, opening and closing his fists by his sides. He knew the answer to that question. The king was testing them, hoping for them to fail. King Vegeta was well aware of their improving strength, though he stubbornly denied it. As much as Bardock kept the information to himself, for fear of this exact outcome, he knew the elites would have to find out eventually.

Toma gnawed on his bottom lip, eyeing Bardock and the king closely. He knew very well what his trustworthy comrade was thinking. It was the  _king's_  thoughts that worried him. If Bardock's suspicions were to come to fruition, the king was likely thinking of taking a drastic course of action against the growing, strengthening third class his kind had come to loathe so much.

"What I'd like to know is," King Vegeta finally said as he sat upright and shot a mean look at Bardock, "how did you pull it off?"

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Pumpbukin scoffed, throwing his large hands wide in a placating gesture as he stepped even closer to his king. "Our power is growing, my King! We've even surpassed the minimum level for elite status, all of us!"

Bardock grit his teeth, exchanging worrisome glances with his other teammates. Pumbukin had no idea what he was doing, but whatever the outcome of this conversation was going to be, it wasn't going to be good. Pumbukin was always a worthy comrade on the battlefield, but in  _this_ arena of battle, he was useless and likely to get them all killed. For once, Bardock felt thankful for the fact that Gine had quit purging when she did.

King Vegeta steepled his index fingers, leaning forward with his elbows braced on his knees as he peered at the piece of trash, bowl-haired Saiyan taking the liberty of approaching his throne. It seemed the third class warrior expected something from him, and that he would not tolerate from  _any_  Saiyan, let alone a third class nobody under the command of one as detestable as Bardock.

"So," King Vegeta turned his head slowly side to side, feeling his steepled fingers stroke the hairs of his beard, "what exactly is your power level, soldier?"

As Pumbukin opened his mouth to answer, Seripa stepped forward and glared. "Pumbukin, you idiot! Keep your mouth shut!"

"Seripa!" Bardock nearly gasped, but caught himself as his eyes fell on the unhappy king. "Stand down. Let Pumbukin speak for  _himself_."

When Pumbukin noted Bardock's change in tone, he turned to face his commander, his eyes widening in alarm. His belated realization would do him no good, he realized, and his team would be unwilling to take the fall along with him. No Saiyan would ever take the fall for another without good reason, and as Pumbukin turned back to lock eyes with the king, he realized that his mistake for opening his mouth too much would cost him dearly.

"A number." The king pressed impatiently.

"F-four thou…sand, my king."

A stoic mask covered the king's face as he simply commented, "impressive."

"So," Pumbukin stepped back warily, clearing his throat, "so you see, I'm not really a third class soldier anymore. Shouldn't our class change if our power rises above that category?"

The king raised a brow. "You wish to be re-classified as elite?"

Snickers surrounded the throne room, echoing from the elite guards surrounding the king's throne. Though the king was unmoving and silent, the tension quickly escalated. Pumbukin was dead already. They all knew it. The only question was, whether the king intended to take his fury out on all of the team members, or he would simply make an example of that one.

"P-please, my king, if you don't-" Pumbukin gasped, his eyes widening as the king stood from his throne. "I don't need to change my status! Please, just-"

"You'd be content remaining in the third class for life?" King Vegeta snarled. "Being looked down upon by all of us as  _scum_ , even if you can defeat us in battle?"

Pumbukin bared his teeth, showing obvious discontent with the suggestion, in spite of his better judgement. Bardock groaned. He knew the moron's pride would ruin his chances of survival. He just hoped Pumbukin hadn't done enough damage to ruin it for all of them. Judging by his premonitions, that wouldn't be the case, but he could never rely upon those shaky scenarios to play out exactly as he saw them.

King Vegeta raised his palm towards Pumbukin, shaking his head with chagrin. "I didn't think so."

Gasps filled the throne room as a blinding light cast rays of shadows over the walls and along the high, vast ceiling and floors. The point of origin, the king's extended hand, was so blinding that Toma had to shield his eyes just to look in that direction. Without even waiting for the explosion, Toma threw himself to the ground, wrapping his arm around Seripa and taking her down with him. "Bardock, get down!"

The command was pointless, as Bardock was already laid flat, shielding himself with a raised forearm when Toma and Seripa fell by his side. When the blast subsided, and the noise of Pumbukin's screams died away, Bardock had already moved past having any worries for Pumbukin. He was already strategically scanning the throne room for an exit and eyeing the guards as he worried what would happen when the dust settled.

There was no escape, Seripa realized. These elites always played dirty, and her team was in the heart of the enemy's territory, trapped like rats. Most Saiyans didn't even realize there were enemies between their kind, aside from the many individual, personal issues that often arose in Saiyan society. There shouldn't have been mass divides, seeing that they had big enough problems with Lord Frieza and his alien crew. But there  _was_  a huge gap that had been forming within the Saiyan race for the past decades, ever since the imprisonment of the queen. The elites were looking to oppress the third class by any means necessary. Their improving strength, though difficult to attain, had been meaningless. It was all meaningless if the elites were going to band together and destroy them for it.

"Now," the king's voice resonated through the throne room as the third class Saiyans shielded their eyes and reluctantly stood to their feet, "what do I do with the rest of you?"

Bardock dusted himself off, turning to the king with a smirk. "I'll be happy to make that decision for you."

"No," King Vegeta growled, squeezing his fist still burning with power by his side, "but I don't think I'll kill you…yet."

"Why not?" Toma complained, prompting an irate glare for Seripa.

" _That's_ one reason." King Vegeta quickly responded with a sneer. "You're all too pigheaded to admit when you've been defeated, and I can't be satisfied by killing you this way. Just look at your comrade." The king shrugged. "It would have been so much more satisfying if he'd admitted his shortcomings and sworn his lowliness to the elites."

Seripa sneered. "You want us to  _call_ ourselves weaklings?"

"No," Bardock shook his head, baring his teeth at the arrogant king, "he wants us to bow down to him like slaves."

"Not true, Bardock." King Vegeta said. "I like your spunk, though. If you were an elite, I'd probably name you general. As it stands, though, you  _are_ and will always be third class  _trash_."

Toma crossed his arms. "So where the hell are we going with this?"

"I have a special mission I need carried out." The king took his seat again, waving his hand to indicate to his anxious, elite guards to stand down at their posts. "Seeing that your team has proven to have the strength required for this sensitive mission, I will assign it to you."

"Oh, boy." Toma rolled his eyes. "We should be honored."

King Vegeta glared at the third class brute's sarcasm. He was tempted to blast a hole through the Saiyan, but doing so would only delay the completion of his assignment. If this was going to work out at all, he needed it done soon. This would be the queen's last chance, as slim as her chances seemed by now. With extreme difficulty, he restrained himself from killing the tall Saiyan, but that didn't stop him from blasting him with a non-fatally aimed attack.

"Aaahh!" Toma fell to his knee, struck by a blast from the king that had traveled across the throne room in the blink of an eye.

As he watched the blood trickling down his comrades' bare arm and fingers cradling his shoulder from the opposite hand, Bardock bared his teeth at the king, feeling incredibly furious, knowing he was helpless to do anything to King Vegeta at the moment, in spite of his own increased power that might possibly match the king's. There were too many elites, and this was not the time.

"Get him into a rejuvenation chamber, and then you will all depart for Lord Frieza's spaceship."

Bardock's eyes bulged as he snapped his head towards the king. "Lord Frieza's ship?!"

The king wore a scowl as he nodded curtly to Bardock and Seripa's flabbergasted faces. "You will storm the ship and free the queen. If you survive and return her alive, you three will no longer be third class."

"You'll," Seripa gasped, her eyes shooting briefly to Toma and then Bardock, "you'll actually allow us to join the elites? I thought you just said-"

"Thank you, my King."

Seripa gasped at Bardock, who was helping Toma to his feet, the other Saiyan groaning in pain as his good arm was wrapped over Bardock's shoulder. "Bardock?"

"I will get Toma to the chambers myself," Bardock said, "and then we will leave as soon as he has healed, your majesty."

"Good." King Vegeta smiled, though Toma was still clenching his eyes shut and Seripa was gaping disbelievingly at the king and Bardock. "You're excused."

The three third class Saiyans made their way past the elites Zorn and Arsnip, who sneered at them as they passed. But Seripa paid them no mind. She was thoroughly confused, and worried about Toma, but she knew she couldn't speak freely as long as there were elites surrounding them.

"Seripa," Bardock whispered once they reached a clearing in the hall, "I'm getting Toma to the tanks, but once he's in there, he's on his own."

"What do you mean?"

"We're not coming back here."

"Fuck." Seripa narrowed her eyes at Toma as he winced, clearly understanding the implication of Bardock's words. "There's not going to be any promotion, is there?"

"No. King Vegeta would chew his own arm off before he'd ever name a third class Saiyan an elite. And storming Frieza's ship? That's a fucking suicide mission."

"Yeah." Toma coughed, causing the others to falter in their step for a brief moment, "don't you two worry about me, though. I'm getting the hell out of here once I'm good and ready. Maybe even before this blast on my shoulder finishes healing."

Seripa shook her head. "Does King Vegeta honestly not see how similar he is behaving to Lord Frieza?"

"No. He won't ever have respect for us. Of course," Bardock turned his head away from the others, furrowing his brows, "if one of us was to actually defeat  _Frieza_ -"

"Don't even think about it, Bardock." Toma snapped.

"He's right." Seripa said. "Now look who's talking suicide missions. You've gotta be out of your mind."

Bardock shook his head, growling in frustration as he hoisted Toma through the door of the rejuvenation chambers. "I've got to warn Gine about all of this. I don't know what the hell we're going to do."

"Your visions, Bardock." Toma looked up, gritting his teeth and bearing his pain. "This is it. You need to get Kakarot involved."

Bardock sneered, turning his head away at the reluctant thought.

"Shit." Seripa said. "You really think this is it?"

"This is the beginning, Seripa." Toma nodded, before a smirk crossed his face. "You wanna fuck before it all goes to hell?"

Seripa shoved a hand harshly against Toma's good shoulder. "You're not even that good when you're in one piece. Why would I want to fuck you now?"

Toma winced, and it wasn't from the shove. "Ow!"

"Enough!" Bardock snapped.

Biting his lip, he turned from the irritating conversation and tried to focus on the task at hand. He knew what Toma suggested was true, but the last thing he wanted to do was bring Kakarot into the fold. The kid was a wildcard. Maybe Raditz would be a better option, in spite of the fact that Kakarot was the one he'd seen in his visions. Kakarot would play an important role, no doubt, but the kid didn't necessarily need to be informed to play his part. Yeah, Bardock found the idea of speaking to Raditz more agreeable.

"Look," Seripa nodded into the depths of the vast rejuvenation chamber room, where alien attendants paced around the empty rejuvenation chambers, "someone's coming. We need to lay low, at least for now."

Bardock frowned at the approaching, beak-nosed attendant, before raising his brows at Toma. "Think you can heal  _slowly_?"

"If it'll buy us some time, sure." Toma shrugged, before narrowing his eyes at Seripa. "Being in the tank gives me time to fantasize anyways."

"That's the only place you're going to get it, Toma."

"If you're going to fantasize," Bardock said, "fantasize about knocking a few elite's heads through the walls."

"Sounds good."

"What sounds good?" The attendant approached, immediately reaching for Toma's shoulder. "It certainly doesn't  _look_  good. The king's handiwork, I presume?"

"Yeah," Toma chuckled, "how'd you know?"

"Right this way." The attendant hoisted Toma over his shoulder, before narrowing his eyes at the other two. "You Saiyans will need to show yourselves out."

"Sure thing." Seripa said, winking and causing the alien to flush as he turned around and she turned to join Bardock.

"Why do you do that?"

"What?"

"Would you honestly  _fuck_  one of those?"

"No." Seripa wrinkled her nose as she and Bardock made their way out of earshot, down the hallway. "Of course, I've had my share of aliens. Some are pretty compatible with us. Have you ever done it in giant ape form?"

"Only with Gine." Bardock glanced over his shoulder, changing his tone as soon as he realized the coast was clear. "Seripa, we need to keep this under wraps, but if you can find a few trustworthy third class Saiyans who don't have a big mouth like Pumbukin, start spreading the word about what the king plans to do."

"Right." Seripa nodded, frowning and gnawing on her bottom lip as she briefly recalled the way her comrade died so easily. "What about Totapo?"

"I don't know if we can trust him yet."

"He  _is_  one of them."

"Exactly."

"But I don't think he would-"

"We have to  _know_ , Seripa, because if we tell one wrong person, it's going to start an all out war."

Seripa sighed, brushing a hand through her short, tousled hair and swinging her coiled tail loosely behind her as they reached the door to the palace exit. "So no Totapo. No big mouths. Got it. Anything else, Commander?"

"Yeah." Bardock smirked as he placed a flat hand against the door and forced it open, ignoring the teenage elite boy standing guard beside it, "when you're done spreading the word, want to come party with me and Gine tonight?"

Seripa stepped outside, brushing her tail against Bardock's backside as she moved, "you mean all three of us…"

"Nah." Bardock frowned. "Gine would never go for it."

"You're such a tease." Seripa complained.

Bardock chuckled as he watched the other Saiyan shoot into the air, surrounded by a blazing white aura. He briefly wondered if Gine _would_  go for something like that, but he knew that if Gine knew what was really going on here, she wouldn't even be able to think about just the two of them. He would wait until  _later_  tonight to tell her. In the morning, he could rope his oldest son into it, hoping Raditz would cease being an idiot long enough to take in the information and prepare himself for taking action. What their Saiyan king didn't know, was that what was coming would make the elites need the third class more than he ever realized. Bardock just hoped, before that point, he could stop the elites from killing off all of their class, because if they lost that battle,  _all_  Saiyans would lose the war.

 


	6. A Lot to Discuss

  
  


Gine's boots landed hard on the cement as she landed, before she stormed towards her front door. She was splattered with blood, sweating from the heat of the red sun in the sky, weary from working, and pissed beyond belief.

When she swung the front door open with a bang, her eldest son and spouse, seated facing each other in the main living area, interrupted their conversation to snap their heads towards her irate glare.

"Gine!"

Raditz scowled and sank into his stiff chair. "Mom, what's wrong?"

It was bad enough that Raditz was already being forced to sit through his father's crazy ranting about the king and his elites that wasn't making any sense, but now his mother had to storm through the door with more drama. He just wanted to get the hell out of that house and punch someone hard in the face to release this building tension he was feeling from the long day he was having. Kakarot was so lucky to be off on a purge today.

When Gine passed behind him and threw down her things, Bardock shifted towards her. "Why are you home early?"

"Because the market's closed!"

Raditz narrowed his eyes. "It's never closed this early."

"It is today," Gine huffed as she plopped in the white seat beside Bardock and crossed her arms, "thanks to the elite scum who decided to go on a killing spree right in the middle of it for no fucking reason."

Raditz grunted. "Probably letting off some steam. Those guys were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just be glad it wasn't you."

Bardock felt a shiver crawl up his spine. This sounded too familiar. It sounded like the first rogue group of elites he envisioned who would kill off a crew of third class Saiyans for their growing power. He hoped Gine wouldn't confirm that it was what he  _thought_  it might be, but he had to know.

"Who was killed, Gine?"

Gine propped her hand against her forehead and sighed. "Squatch and his crew. The lot of 'em. And anyone else who intervened. Me and my coworkers hightailed it out of there as soon as the elites started looking for food. No fucking way were we getting between a bunch of elites pumped with bloodlust and their meat."

Gasping at his mother's words, Raditz curled his fists in his lap tightly. His father had warned him about the beginning of everything he foresaw being rooted in  _that_  third class team being killed in a very public event. It was hard to believe that any of what his father predicted could be true, but this market event was too coincidental not to be the one he described where it all would start. With a look at his scowling father, Raditz could see Bardock was thinking the same thing. His father's fingers dug into the arms of his chair as he grit his teeth and flitted his gaze to Raditz, before looking at Gine.

"Gine, why don't you wash off that blood?"

Gine placed her head in her hands and looked towards the floor. "I'll wash off when I'm good and ready, Bardock."

"You wreak of blood and sweat, and you look like hell."

Gine's gaze snapped to Bardock as she bared her teeth. "Fuck you!"

"Later."

As Bardock smirked at her, Gine growled, before storming away to slam the bathroom door shut behind her. She didn't want to see his smug face for another second. Raditz could deal with Bardock's bullshit.

As soon as that door slammed, Bardock's eyes darted to Raditz. "You believe me now, Kid?"

"Fuck you, Dad. I'm no kid."

"But you believe me."

Raditz took a sidelong glance at the bathroom door. "Why don't you want Mom knowin'?"

Bardock clenched his jaw, averting his gaze from his son's questioning eyes. Gine was soft - softer than Bardock or any Saiyan would want to admit. She needed protecting. He knew that eventually, the truth would be undeniable, but for now, he wanted to keep her in the dark. Besides, if she knew what the king was capable of, she might find an opportune moment, like the ones she'd been having in secret lately, to try something stupid to save the third class.

"She's got enough on her mind."

"Aww," Raditz smirked, "that's sweet. Being all protective. Sometimes I'm not sure if you give a damn about any of us."

Huffing in annoyance, Bardock turned a glare on his son. "I don't give a damn about  _you_  or your idiot brother."

"Great." Raditz crossed his arms and smiled. "There's the Dad I know and love."

"Fuckin' brats." Bardock rolled his eyes. "Back to the point, Raditz. We need to do something. This is happening faster than I anticipated."

"You really think the elites are prepared for a massive genocide?" Raditz furrowed his brows with a dubious frown. "There's no way they can  _all_  be in on that."

"Even so," Bardock frowned and shrugged, "if their king commands it..."

Raditz bared his teeth as he felt his blood boil. He finally had a good thing going in his life. He was a new father. He had Leeka. And his power had been growing to the point that he might actually gain some respect from his elite team. But now, it appeared that was all for nothing. Either he was going to die, or someone he cared about would. And his power would never amount to anything in the eyes of the elites as long as he had been born to the third class.

There was no way they'd all get out of this alive, and though his father was being cryptic about his visions, he did say he foresaw a lot of death. He also foresaw this being a problem between the third class and the elites. He never mentioned where Lord Frieza and his men or the second class fit into all of this. Nevertheless, their elitist king was the root of the problem.

Sitting upright, Raditz let a snarl escape his lips. "I'll  _kill_  King Vegeta."

"Don't be stupid. You can't do that alone, and King Vegeta's power is far greater than yours."

"Where does the second class fit into this?"

Raditz was obviously more curious about the second class over other outsiders to this conflict, and Bardock knew exactly why. Raditz had to know whether Leeka would be his friend or foe. Unfortunately, Bardock couldn't tell him, even if he wanted to.

"I don't know, Raditz." Bardock's frown deepened as he clenched his fingers so hard that they splintered the wood of the chair. "But I don't think the aliens are going to get involved with this mess, at least not until we're picking up the pieces, our numbers are down, and Lord Frieza can throw what's left of us into outright slavery without even needing to maintain this cooperative front he has going now."

"The elites have their heads up their asses!"

"I know."

"Can't someone just tell the king this? He won't want that outcome! Elite or not,  _no_  Saiyan wants that."

Bardock shook his head. " _You_  hardly believed me. There's no chance a third class Saiyan is getting anywhere near the castle either, now that it's begun."

Raditz widened his eyes as he recalled another detail from his father's earlier conversation, before his mother had burst through the door. He was seeing significance now where there was none before, because he frankly thought his father was crazy and therefor disregarded what he had to say. But now, that bit about Kakarot had him confused - and a little jealous.

"Is that why you think Kakarot's so important?"

"What? I don't know  _why_  he's important," Bardock scoffed, "I just know he's necessary for our side to win."

"That cocky jerk? He's not that much more powerful than us."

Bardock groaned. "I assure you, Raditz, he's important."

"Then it has to be about Prince Vegeta."

"Prince Vegeta?"

Raditz smirked. So his father didn't know. Of course, his father never thought Kakarot was an angel, but if he knew he'd been fraternizing with royalty and putting their entire family at risk, that would definitely put Kakarot out of favor. Raditz always knew he was the better son.

"Yeah," Raditz plastered a smile across his face and crossed his arms, "it's been kept real hush-hush, but I'm surprised you never caught wind of it."

Bardock cocked a brow. "Caught wind of what?"

Batting some stray hair from his face, Raditz chuckled. "If I tell you, King Vegeta might kill me. He's already killed anyone who knew about it at the time, as far as  _he_  knows."

Bardock raised his fist and growled. "If you don't tell me,  _I'm_  going to kill you."

Blowing one last stubborn strand of hair from his eyes, Raditz turned his head to the side and scowled. He knew his father wasn't serious about killing him over such a stupid thing. But he was fairly certain Bardock would beat the shit out of him until he had his information - and Raditz wasn't sure whether he could take the old man. Besides, he would  _enjoy_  sharing this information with his father.

"Kakarot seduced Prince Vegeta." Raditz cringed. "Gods, if Vegeta ever heard me say that out loud, he'd rip my tongue out."

Bardock blinked, trying to wrap his head around this information. First of all, he was unaware that Kakarot and the prince had even  _met_. And Bardock could've sworn Kakarot was involved with that sexy little number on his team. And Prince Vegeta...that was playing with fire, even by Kakarot's standards.

Turning his gaze to Raditz, Bardock rubbed his brow. "Prince Vegeta...you're sure about this?"

Raditz nodded.

"And he doesn't know that you know?"

"I think," Raditz shrugged with a dubious frown, "I think Vegeta knows but he's in denial about me knowing. But I'm sure if I said anything to him, I'd be as good as dead. Tarble knew it, too. Maybe that's why the king had him taken out."

"His own son?" Bardock scoffed. "Even King Vegeta isn't that cruel."

Raditz blinked. "You think Tarble's still alive?"

Bardock shook his head. He didn't have time to debate about Prince Tarble's whereabouts, though he did strongly feel the prince was still alive somehow. What he really wanted was to get back to Kakarot.

"Raditz, if this is true," Bardock smiled, "we might just have an edge. Prince Vegeta is very important."

"But he's an elite. He's one of them."

Bardock shrugged. "The class lines are blurring. If Kakarot has some sort of connection with him, he can persuade him to join our side."

Raditz scowled. "Kakarot  _can_  be persuasive."

The squeak of the turning door handle made Raditz shift to look at the half-dressed, wet-haired Saiyan woman standing behind him in the bathroom doorway. "What are you two talking about?"

Bardock huffed. "Your son."

Gine immediately narrowed her eyes at Raditz. "What did you do now?"

As Raditz balked, Bardock waved a hand dismissively. "Not that one. Your other son."

"So what's  _he_  done?"

Bardock peered sideways at Raditz. "Apparently, screwed our family over royally with the royal family."

Raditz snickered, unable to hide his mirth at his father's artistic choice of words. That snicker developed into an all-out laugh, distracting Raditz and Bardock from the way Gine cringed at the news she already knew, but wished her husband wouldn't have discovered.

"It's not funny, Boy." Bardock sneered at Raditz. "It's a miracle your brother's still alive if the king really knows about this. It's amazing  _any_  of us are. He'd never tolerate his son shacking up with a third class Saiyan." Bardock shot his gaze to Gine. "Did you know about this?"

"N-no!" Gine exclaimed, eyes wide and heart pounding.

She hoped her husband wouldn't be able to piece this information together and discover what she'd been doing with the king. Now that he knew her reason, he might realize what all the sneaking away had been about. He might have greater cause to hate King Vegeta than he already did, if he knew the king did intend to kill his son.

"Kakarot has some weird power over the prince, Dad." Raditz nodded with certainty. "I don't know what the hell it is, but both of them are a little crazy, if you ask me."

Bardock nodded, keeping his eyes carefully trained on Gine's attentive gaze as he answered vaguely. "Then we'll use that. Talk to your brother. And I'll talk to Totapo. It's about time he knows what's going on."

Gine crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. " _What's_  going on?"

Raditz nodded at his father, having complete understanding of what he meant, though he didn't like being assigned the job of talking to his brother. With Totapo being an elite, his father might be able to warn the other elites about the king's intentions and its unwanted outcome. Using Prince Vegeta was a risky plan, but Raditz supposed that was why Kakarot was so important. Only  _he_  could push the prince without getting killed for his insubordination.

Sighing, both in relief at Raditz's look of understanding, and in chagrin at Gine's impatient glare, Bardock cupped both hands over his face. He heard Raditz rise, the chair creaking before his clunky footsteps passed by Bardock's side. When he heard the chair shift again as an attractive scent wafted through his nose, Bardock rubbed his hands down his face, knowing when he peeked over his fingers again, he would see Gine sitting across from him with her eyes locked on his.

When Bardock opened his eyes and brought his hands to rest on the splintered armrests of his chair, Gine knew by the look on his face that whatever he and Raditz had been discussing was more serious than Kakarot and the prince. A feeling of dread welled in her chest as she leaned forward with eyes narrowed, observing the way her husband groaned and rolled his eyes in defeat. He wasn't getting out of this without telling her what this was about.

* * *

A large, muscular, dark-skinned warrior with a squared jaw was engaged in a spar in a battleground indoor arena surrounded by domed walls and a few other busily training elite warriors. His black hair splayed out on either side of his otherwise bald head, while his tail was wrapped tightly around his waist.

Swinging his fist into empty air as his equally massive opponent dodged, he growled in frustration. "I want to know why!"

"What's it to you, Totapo?"

The burly Saiyan grunted as he countered and threw his fist towards Totapo's face, before Totapo swiftly dodged the punch and narrowed his eyes.

"Has  _your_ entire team ever been summoned to the king without you present?"

A taller, leaner Saiyan flew towards Totapo and attacked him from the rear with a roundhouse kick, but Totapo raised his arm and blocked it just in time, flinching in pain from the powerful impact.

"Why worry about what happens to your team, Totapo?" Zorn asked as he retracted his fist from the block before seemingly disappearing from sight.

Totapo closed his dark, twitching eyes, trying to sense Zorn without his sight even while he could already hear his first opponent lunging towards him. Blocking and dodging the knee thrust and punch to the gut from  _that_  burly warrior, Totapo spun around to smash his fist hard into the face of the other warrior appearing right behind him. The grating, course sound of the bone-crunching impact caused even the other opponent to double back as they watched Zorn fall backwards, hurtling all the way down to the ground far below where they currently flew.

"Nice shot, Totapo." Nappa chuckled from his side.

Totapo looked Nappa's way just in time to witness Nappa being swiped in the face by the prince's boot. As Prince Vegeta laughed at Nappa's scream, Totapo pressed his lips together, scowling at the arrogant prince while his undefeated opponent floated by his side and did the same. There was no way they would continue their spar with the prince's attention on them.

"Nappa," Vegeta growled before sending a glare directly to Totapo's prying eyes, "when you're sparring with me, don't ever take your eyes off of our fights. Next time, I'll blast a hole through you that you won't survive."

"Yes, Prince Vegeta!" Nappa clapped his hands together before readying himself for a fight, in spite of the massive bruise and swelling already forming under his eye. "I just wanted to tell Totapo how your father put those third class losers from his team in their place."

Totapo gasped. " _My_  team?"

"Yes." A smirk slowly spread across Vegeta's face. "You must know by now that one is dead and one is in the tanks. I'm sorry I missed the show. You must be, too."

"You," Totapo shook his head and looked to Nappa, "you saw it?"

"Sure did!" Nappa laughed. "It was a bloodbath. Bardock and Seripa are lucky they made it out unscathed."

Totapo shied his gaze from the others, hoping they would fail to see the solemn look on his face as he whispered to himself. "Bardock and Seripa." Then he looked to the others with wide eyes. "Why?"

"Why?" Vegeta shrugged, closing his eyes and chuckling. "Because they are nothing. The king of Vegeta can do as he likes with that trash. Nappa, I'm done for today."

Vegeta peeled off his gloves, looking to Nappa as Nappa gaped back at him. When Vegeta removed the gloves completely, he tossed them to Nappa, who snatched them from the air with a wordless nod as the prince turned away.

Totapo's opponent immediately bowed. "Prince Vegeta."

"Prince Vegeta," Totapo repeated, bowing as he earnestly sought the prince's gaze, "there must be another reason-"

His shoulders stiffening, Vegeta froze in mid-air, but refused to turn and face the group of elites floating behind him. "Do you want an explanation of my father's reasons? I can  _show_  you what he meant by it."

The hostility woven into Vegeta's voice was so thick that Totapo didn't dare say another word. He gulped, hoping the prince would not corner him in this conversation and force him to say something that would get him killed. He had seen the prince's game played one too many times on the training grounds and in the arena – a game that usually ended with elite Saiyan blood splattered across the royal training arena.

After a beat, the prince's shoulders relaxed as he let out a curt chuckle. "I didn't think so."

As the prince glided towards the ground, Totapo remained frozen with fear. He anticipated at any second that the prince would turn around, changing his mind and firing a blast which would come too quickly, too powerfully, for him to counter. His life would burn away in an instant of intense agony with hardly a reason for his death. It wasn't until the prince was out the door, the echo of its closing sounding throughout the vast arena, that Totapo was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Wow, Totapo." Nappa sputtered in amusement. "You got lucky."

"Yeah," Totapo muttered as he righted himself and pushed his wide shoulders back, "real lucky."

"I say we call it a day after  _that_." The other Saiyan added, clapping Totapo hard on the back before he laughed out loud. "You nearly pissed yourself!"

As the laughing Saiyan brushed past him, lowering to follow the prince's path, Totapo bared his teeth at the retreating back. That weak bastard had some nerve mocking  _him_  when he'd been in a similar situation just that past week and literally  _did_  piss himself on the training grounds. With a feral shout, Totapo launched a lethal blast at the other Saiyan, whose laughter stopped short as he was careened into the nearest wall and crushed at the impact of that blast.

"Not bad, Totapo." Nappa cast Totapo a sidelong smirk and braced his hands on his hips with the prince's gloves protruding from his balled-up fists. "Just stop asking so many questions, and you might get relieved from your team of weaklings to be promoted to the royal guard."

"And take  _your_  place, Nappa?" Totapo smiled and raised a brow. "And who's going to watch my back when your position is threatened? I'm just fine purging with the third class. Those missions aren't so bad."

Nappa let out a booming laugh, the sound filling the place as they were now the only two people left in the quickly vacated arena. "Not so bad? The third class is like a contagious  _disease_. You should do everything you can to get the hell away from the-"

Nappa's eyes bulged as a loud signal rang through the acoustic arena. Totapo had to cover his ears to protect his sensitive hearing from the rattling noise. It was a familiar symphony of tones, but one which was especially loud in the training arena compared to other areas of the castle, where other elites would be hearing the same sound at a lower volume.

"Aww," Nappa grit his teeth and covered his ears, "what's  _this_  now?"

"We'd better get to the throne room."

Totapo turned for the door, not even waiting for Nappa to follow him. He wanted to know what this was about. It had been years since the king summoned the elites for an announcement in this manner. Something big had to be happening, and he had a bad feeling that his team's recent encounter with the king was somehow related to it.

When Totapo made it out the door, he breathed in the open air briefly before turning towards the direction of the main castle entrance. There, he could already see a stream of elite Saiyans flying towards the massive double doors that would lead them through a hall, to the royal throne room. He bent his knees, intending to join them in flight, when the glimpse of movement behind the nearest corner caught his attention. As the black spikes of hair ducked behind the building, Totapo felt a light punch against his back.

"Get moving!" Nappa said. "We can't keep the king waiting!"

"Right. I'll be-" Totapo furrowed his brows, sensing that whoever was back there was still in hiding, and waiting for him, "I'll be right behind you, Nappa. I just left my scouter inside."

Nappa snorted. "I'm not waiting for you. I'll see you inside."

Watching Nappa take off into the air, Totapo feinted as if returning towards the door. But when he saw that Nappa was far enough away and not turning around, he made a run for that corner of the building, hoping his watcher was still there. When he rounded the corner, he gasped at the familiar face frowning stoically back at him.

"Bardock!" His eyes bulged in recognition. "Bardock, what are you doing here?"

"Totapo," Bardock eased back into the shadows, waving for his comrade to follow him, "we need to talk."

* * *

Inside the throne room, the massive congregation of elite Saiyans were yelling and bantering, carrying on several conversations all trying to make sense of their presence at the throne room in that moment. Many suspected this was some announcement about Lord Frieza, or perhaps there was news of their queen. But judging by the smug smile on the king's face, joined by his flanking guards' hard-set jaws, most of them realized neither of those options seemed likely.

Once new bodies stopped filing into the crowded throne room, King Vegeta stepped forward, raising both hands. "Be silent!"

A silence fell over the audience with such suddenness that a few were caught in mid-breath and held their tongues with impressive control, no more than a gasp escaping their lips.

"I have gathered you all here because certain instances have made me aware of a growing problem in our society."

Saiyans exchanged glances and curious whispers, their heads turning side to side before the king relieved their urge to find clarification by continuing, "and in response to that problem, I am declaring a new law, for all of Vegeta."

Intrigued gasps were the only sounds that came from the enrapt crowd as King Vegeta drew a breath. Prince Vegeta, standing off to the side of the throne with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face, darted his eyes towards his father's face,  _his_  calloused curiosity even piqued by his father's suggestion. He had no idea what the old man was up to, but he knew it would have no ill-effect on him. What he did wonder, was how it would affect the planet as a whole. The planet  _he_  would be inheriting to rule.

"All Saiyans must report their current power levels to their local testing facilities." A smirk crossed this king's face as his gaze panned over his audience. "Any who do not comply will be executed."

A few gasps and shouts of outrage were heard before one woman jumped forward, overwhelming the other voices with her shouting, "what problem is this solving, King Vegeta?"

"What problem, you ask?" King Vegeta narrowed his eyes. "Pest extermination. We are being overrun with vermin whose egos are getting too big for their armor, it seems."

"Ohhh," one man laughed, "the lower class. They  _are_  getting too cocky for their own good. Some of them even think they're as good as us."

"So all of you," Arsnip stepped forward from the king's flank, giving the king a deferential look before addressing the people again, "pass this law on to your purging teammates, both in the second class and third class. All are expected to report by the end of the week."

Through the side door, Totapo stepped into the throne room, crossing his arms as he overheard the end of the proclamation. After his talk with Bardock, he was well aware of where the king was going with this, though he doubted the others of his class understood or would even care once they knew the truth. This was the king's tool and likely his excuse for his genocide. He had to be planning to execute not only those who failed to report, but those whose levels were too high for their ranks.

In Totapo's opinion, the king had gone mad. With Lord Frieza and his forces out there, they needed every Saiyan they could keep, even the weakest of them. Bringing their numbers down would only further empower the Planet Trade against their planet. Totapo had to relay this somehow to the king, without getting himself killed.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at his father's back, while most Saiyans were still conversing as they slowly made their ways out of the throne room. He knew his father had a plan that went much deeper than checking the power levels of the elites and a bunch of weaklings. He just didn't know what that was. Yet. He was going to get it out of his father, even if he had to drag it out.

When Vegeta took one swift step, then another, the ground began to vibrate below his feet. The quaking grew to such an extreme that the chandeliers above began to ring trill noises and a few Saiyans stumbled and lost their footing. With his jaw dropping, Vegeta turned his gaze towards the massive window of the throne room. A shadow suddenly loomed over the courtyard outside, which had been cast in the light of the reddish sun only moments earlier. The rumbling continued, growing louder from outside as the shadow darkened, until the massive underside of a ship came into view overhead – a ship with gold hedging and turquoise jewels which had not been seen since Vegeta was a small child.

Just ahead of Vegeta, his father growled and bared his teeth at the nearest guard. "Guards! Why was I not informed of this arrival?"

A female Saiyan ran forward and fell to her knees, deeply bowing her head. "We just picked it up, Sire."

"In the middle of your speech!" Another young elite added as he fell to her side.

"There was no contact announcing its approach," the female Saiyan added with a grimace, "or we would have informed you right away, Sire!"

Growling, King Vegeta ground his teeth and turned to see the large ship landing on his launch pad. The launch pad which was reserved only for himself and his family, and on rare occasions, Lord Frieza. But these bastards dared not only to return when they had been forbidden, but had the impudence to set down on royal ground.

"Father!"

"Vegeta," King Vegeta snapped his gaze back to his glaring son, "have the guards clear this throne room. We will need a more private audience for our unexpected guests."

Growling, Vegeta clenched his fists so tightly he could feel the circulation leaving his extremities. He didn't want to do his father's bidding, but he realized by the severity of his father's glare that this visitor could be problematic – perhaps even more problematic than Lord Frieza. If that was true, Vegeta was slightly curious to see who was inside that ship.

"Arsnip, get Zorn and come with me." King Vegeta ordered, whirling his cape behind him as he headed towards the back entrance of the throne room, in the opposite direction of where the others were filing out. "We have to greet them before anyone else sees who has returned."

Biting his bottom lip, King Vegeta marched towards the exit. He wouldn't wait for his guards. He would simply rely on them to show before those Saiyans could become a problem. He would do what he could to avoid a problem with them, which would not be an easy feat at this point. They  _had_ to detest him for his botched order of their execution and banishment. He hardly believed they'd gotten over it.

Maybe that was why they returned – they could be seeking revenge. But maybe there was another reason. If the third class was going to be as much of a problem as King Vegeta foresaw, these two elites could be useful if King Vegeta played this meeting right. Nevertheless, he had started what he needed to. The third class Saiyans ranking above their station would be executed for exceeding their allowed power, so the elites could remain superior on Planet Vegeta for all time, as it should be.

 


	7. It Begins

King Vegeta tapped his fingers on the desk in front of him, his impatient glare fixed on the two men sitting across from him and flanked by his guards. In spite of the king's hospitality of not killing them on sight and allowing them to sit down privately with him and his son, the intruders had the audacity to stare him down. He could kill them both right there, but there was always the chance that Brolly had reached his full potential while away. It was a real wrench in his plans, finding that Saiyan to still be alive.

As Vegeta scoffed through his teeth, losing patience beside him, King Vegeta decided to address the new arrivals. "Have you forgotten the terms of our parting, Paragus?"

"No, Sire." Paragus smirked, his one good eye narrowing while his scar crinkled on the other side. "I came back because I suspected that our terms had changed."

Vegeta sputtered in disbelief. "What the hell would make you think that?"

"Vegeta!" King Vegeta snapped, before fixing his glare again on his uninvited guests. "I want to know what you're doing here, Paragus. Why now? And why, for the love of the moon, did you bring  _him_  back to this planet?"

As King Vegeta fixed his hateful glare on the younger, taller Saiyan seated quietly beside Paragus, Paragus smirked again. "I suppose, my King, I figured if one prince of Vegeta was gone, another should return."

Vegeta shot to his feet in outrage. "Prince?!"

"Sit  _down_ , Vegeta." King Vegeta snarled as he turned to Paragus again. "How dare you claim your son a-"

"My  _son_ ," Paragus raised his voice and cast a fleeting glance at Prince Vegeta's hostile demeanor, "is more powerful than both you and your son combined, Vegeta! You know i-"

Growling through clenched teeth, Vegeta raised his palm towards Brolly. "I'll show you who's more powerful! No outcast  _reject_  is going to challenge the prince of all Saiyans!"

Before Vegeta could release the glowing, burning sphere of energy forming in his palm, he was hit with a surge of pain in his temple. The pain was so intense that it briefly stole his vision and knocked him off balance, until he opened his eyes to see red and flash his gaze on Brolly, that traitorous Saiyan who dared to flaunt a high power level and claim the legendary status among their people. But to his shock, Brolly was sitting just as still as he had been when Vegeta was about to strike.

"I  _told_  you," his father drawled, "to sit. Down."

Slowly, Vegeta turned his disbelieving glare on his father, whose raised fist was still red from the impact. That traitorous bastard. He dared to intercept Vegeta's attack, when these fools actually claimed to be more powerful than them? His father may as well have admitted they were stronger. Paragus' smug grin had Vegeta convinced that he thought as much about it as well.

"I don't blame you for preserving your heir, King Vegeta." Paragus grinned at Brolly. "I intend to do the same for mine. Besides, Prince Vegeta is all you have left now, isn't he?"

Vegeta pressed his finger firmly into the wooden table. "Don't talk about me as if I'm not standing right here."

"Yes." King Vegeta's jaw tensed. "The queen has long been in Frieza's custody, and Tarble is dead."

Raising his chin, the younger Vegeta crossed his arms and shut his eyes. His father was on his own now. Vegeta had no intention of defending the bastard when Paragus or Brolly tried to kill him, which Vegeta was certain they would do sooner or later.

Paragus raised a brow. " _Is_  he now? So sorry to hear the rumors we heard from space were true, your majesty." A mischievous grin crossed his face as he exchanged a look with Brolly. "It's better he's dead than in the hands of your enemies.  _That_  could be far worse."

King Vegeta gasped internally, trying to conceal his alarm from the others. When he shifted his gaze to Vegeta, he could see by Vegeta's tensed jaw that his son was just as alarmed by Paragus' implication. There was no way to track where Tarble had gone. King Vegeta regretted that he hadn't tried to keep tabs on him went he sent him off-planet.

Shaking his head, Vegeta turned his back on his father. That fool put them in this situation. His father should've just killed Tarble when he had the chance. Now, they were at risk of being exposed for their weakness by Paragus and his freak son. And Vegeta didn't even have a say in whether or not to spare the weakling runt. With a heated scoff, Vegeta kicked his chair beneath the table with a bang and marched for the door. He'd had enough of this shit.

"Vegeta!"

"Prince Vegeta," Nappa stepped to block Vegeta's way, heeding the king's call, "please."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes up at Nappa and balled his fists, practically feeling his father's gaze burning into his back. "Move, Nappa. I'm in a bad mood. Right now, blasting  _you_  through the wall doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"Vegeta!" King Vegeta called again. "If Paragus and his... _son_  must stay..."

When his father trailed off, Vegeta glimpsed over in shoulder with mild curiosity. Nappa and the other guards gaped towards the king, while Paragus and Brolly sat with patient stares. King Vegeta watched all the gazes trained on him and grimaced. He supposed there was no way of getting around Paragus' threat. Between Brolly's strength and Paragus' knowledge, the two of them could be a real threat to Vegeta's inheritance of the throne. They could even be a threat to  _his_  rule. The only thing he could do now was change their motivation, by giving them a new target. A common enemy. Yes. In that regard, Brolly's return to Vegeta could become a blessing in disguise. But there was always the chance that it wouldn't.

King Vegeta gulped before continuing, "...they can contribute to our cause."

Vegeta inclined his head further. "What cause?"

"Preserving our elite legacy." King Vegeta smirked as he met Paragus' intrigued gaze. "You are probably not aware that the third class has been gaining strength at alarming rates."

"No," Paragus narrowed his eyes, "I wasn't aware of this. Were you, Brolly?"

"No."

"Well they are." King Vegeta frowned. "And they're getting cocky. They need to be put in their place, preferably before Frieza or any of his men make another trip to this planet."

Brolly's stoic, painted-on frown slowly crossed into a smile. "Strong Saiyans? Put in their place?"

"Hold on, Son. Calm down." Paragus patted Brolly's hand atop the table. "My son and I are proud elite Saiyans first and foremost, King Vegeta. The only thing worse than a  _prince_  weaker than his subjects," Paragus turned a taunting smirk on Vegeta, "is the elite being overrun by the scum of the planet. What's the point of returning to reside on this mighty planet if every piece of garbage starts thinking themselves equals?"

King Vegeta crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "What  _is_  the point, indeed?"

As his gaze met the king's, Paragus raised his chin. King Vegeta knew exactly why he was there. He had nothing to fear from the king though, or the prince. Not with Brolly on his side. Once these rebellious low class warriors were taken care of, Paragus could turn his attention on Frieza, sending Brolly to take out the tyrant and therefore win the respect of the Saiyan people. Then King Vegeta and the prince would be nothing but a joke, easily killed and forgotten.

* * *

Kakarot was asleep. He was lying on his back, on his small, minimalistic bed in his little bedroom, drool hanging from the corner of his lip and his brown tail hanging off the edge of the bed. The bright red hue of Vegeta's sun shining through the small window above him did not deter him from his sleep, but the other man in the room would.

Kakarot's first stirring was roused by the sensation of a hand gliding slowly over his chest and down his abdomen. When he began to nod off again, the sensation of that hand slipping beneath the hem of his shorts made him inhale sharply, before releasing a groan as his semi-hard cock was grasped by a strong hand.

His intruder smirked, leaning in to whisper into his ear, "Kakarot."

With his eyes still closed, Kakarot's eyes rolled back in his head at the sensation of the warm fingers wrapped around his cock sliding to the base of it and back up over the head again. A slight smile graced Kakarot's lips. This treatment wasn't bad to wake up to. He'd had it from Kanna before, but  _this_  was a first, and quite a surprise. With a soft moan, Kakarot pressed his hips up, sliding his length through that tight grip, before uttering, "mmm…'Geta."

The lips ghosting over his ear let out a low chuckle, causing Kakarot to finally rouse from his half-asleep state and slowly open his squinty eyes. When he first noticed through his blurred vision the widow's peak, the dark eyes staring down at him, and the handsome face of his intruder, Kakarot felt the urge to cup his hand around the face and pull him in for a kiss. But when he blinked away the sleep as his hand gingerly reached for that face, his vision cleared, revealing to him the stark differences between this man and the man he expected to see.

"R-Raditz!" Kakarot drew his hand back and sat upright in a rapid motion, pulling his cock free from Raditz's grasp with a gentle, pleasurable tug that made him hiss through his teeth. "What the-?!"

Raditz let out a burst of raucous, mocking laugh and slapped his knee. "You're messed up, you know that? If I had you going a little longer, I probably could've had you suck my cock! Ooh," Raditz snickered, "Ve…geta."

Kakarot pulled his legs into a comfortable position on the bed and glared at his laughing brother. He knew there was no point in denying any of it. Raditz wasn't blind, as much as Vegeta liked to pretend he was. Kakarot hated his brother having something over on him. He knew Raditz would willingly turn him in to the likes of King Vegeta or even  _Frieza_  if it meant some personal gain for Raditz. Fortunately, Raditz was also scared shitless of Vegeta, who would kill Raditz for revealing anything about the two of them. As long as Kakarot didn't admit anything, he had nothing to worry about aside from Raditz's sick taunting.

"Next time you want to give me a hand job, Raditz," Kakarot narrowed his eyes, "why don't you invite Leeka over, too?"

Raditz stopped laughing.

Kakarot smirked. "I might be willing to give incest a try if I get to screw my brother's girlfriend in the process. She's a cute one."

"Shut up, Kakarot." Raditz scowled and crossed his arms. "You know Leeka would never let you lay your hands on her."

"Oh?" Kakarot raised a brow. "Is that a challenge?"

Raditz wasn't going to bite the bait Kakarot was setting out. Kakarot knew Leeka meant something to him, more than she should, the selfish bitch she was. But just the thought of her and Kakarot screwing…Raditz would rather go as far as giving his brother a blow job than to allow  _that_  to happen. Besides, Kakarot had people to answer to as well.

Raditz smirked. "Should I tell  _Vegeta_  about this challenge?"

"Go ahead."

Raditz balked. Kakarot had to be bluffing. Vegeta would be pissed about Kakarot screwing other people behind his back. The little royal prick was so possessive. But by the confident smile on Kakarot's face, Raditz was certain Kakarot wasn't worried about that. Probably not. Probably because that would get  _Leeka_ killed, not Kakarot. Great. Raditz's plan had backfired.

Clenching his jaw, Raditz met his brother's gaze. "Just stay away from her."

Kakarot smiled and braced both hands casually behind his head. "What are you willing to offer me in return?"

"O-offer you?" Raditz growled and raised his fist. "Listen, you little shit-"

"No." Kakarot brought his hands down firmly on the bed. "You listen, Raditz. You  _need_  me for something, or you wouldn't be in here, waking me up with your hand on my cock. Which was  _real_  cute, by the way."

"I aim to please."

"So come out with it already. What the hell do you want?"

Raditz scowled. Now he had to face the difficult task of confronting Kakarot about this classist bullshit and his role in the whole thing. Raditz still didn't  _understand_  Kakarot's role in it. And the last thing he wanted to tell his brother was that he was  _important_.

Crossing his arms, Raditz looked away from Kakarot. "Dad sent me to talk to you."

"About?"

"He had a vision."

Kakarot sighed. "Am I gonna have to keep dragging this out of you, or…?"

Keeping his arms tightly folded, Raditz bit his lip and turned a glare on his brother. "The king is going to kill thousands of Saiyans, Kakarot. Namely, third class Saiyans."

"Third class Saiyans?" Kakarot rubbed his chin with an indifferent frown. "Why? What'd we do?"

"We got powerful," Raditz snapped, "that's what we did!"

"So," Kakarot shrugged, before falling back into bed and staring at his ceiling with his tail thumping against the mattress as he spoke, "what's this have to do with me?"

" _We're_  third class Saiyans, you idiot. Do you  _want_  to die?"

"Nah."

"Nah? That's all you have t-"

"No. I mean  _nah_ ," Kakarot frowned, "that's not all this is about. There's another reason you're comin' to me about this that you're not saying. I bet it's somethin' you don't want to say."

As Kakarot turned his head towards Raditz with a sly grin, Raditz growled low in his throat. His brother sucked. If he could kill the bastard right now himself, Raditz would do it. But he really didn't want to die. And if his father's premonition was right, Kakarot was necessary for Raditz's survival. Plus if the elites didn't kill him, his mother would kill him for hurting her precious Kakarot.

"Dad's gathering fighters, banding the third class together." Raditz glanced at Kakarot's smug grin but quickly looked away. "His team is in on it, too. He's even getting Totapo involved."

"Mm-hmm."

"We could use whatever help we can get from the elites."

Kakarot's tail flopped back and forth on the bed, taunting Raditz before his brother even said a word. "Still waiting to hear what this has to do with me."

Raditz scowled bitterly. "You  _know_  what it has to do with you."

Kakarot smiled and leaned back in his sitting position, supporting his weight on the heels of his hands. "I don't, really."

"We need you to convince Vegeta to stay out of it."

"Stay out of it?" Kakarot laughed. "You do it. He's on  _your_  team."

"I can't."

"I don't know why you think  _I_ can. Besides, why can't you?"

Raditz growled. "You know why I can't! I'll be good as dead!"

His brother was such a little shit. Raditz didn't care anymore how important Kakarot was or how angry his mother would be. He had to beat the bastard into agreement, it seemed. Raising his fist, Raditz lunged onto the bed, surprised to find that by the time he planted his fist, it was in the springy soft mattress rather than his brother.

"You ass!" Kakarot yelled from behind him. "You just put a hole in my bed!"

"My bad." Raditz whirled on Kakarot with his fist swinging, "I meant to put a hole in you!"

At the same moment Kakarot caught Raditz fist in the palm of his hand with a crushing grip, the sound of the collision was muffled by the sound of a nearby explosion. Both brothers' eyes widened in alarm as they shot their gaze towards Kakarot's window. Through it, they could see debris shooting from a nearby building and flames bursting from its roof.

"Shit!"

"Kakarot!" Raditz pushed Kakarot out of the way as they both dove for the window to get a better view.

"What the hell is going on out there?"

Raditz studied the explosion, the soldiers marching right out of the billowing black cloud of smoke emanating from the decimated building, and the Saiyans at the other end of the street running away in terror. When one of the soldiers raised his hand and fired at the backs of the running Saiyans, Raditz bared his teeth. Those were elites doing the killing out there. Elites  _never_ walked the streets of third class slums.

As Kakarot gaped at the devastation and the dead bodies lying in the street, Raditz narrowed his eyes at his brother. "It's started, Kakarot."

"This?" Kakarot gasped before snapping his gaze to Raditz. "This is what Dad predicted?"

"Mm-hmm." Raditz nodded absently, before looking around the room. "Did you get your power level checked, Kakarot?"

"Hm?"

"The king's sanction!"

Kakarot shook his head and curiously followed Raditz's busily moving eyes. "Nah. Screw that."

"Screw that." Raditz scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You're going to get yourself killed."

Kakarot clenched his jaw. "They'd kill me if they knew my power level."

Raditz's eyes widened before he clenched his jaw and nodded. Kakarot was probably right about that. Raditz would probably be killed, too, though he  _did_  get measured right after that discussion with his father. The elites were probably waiting for him to return to the castle for the team's next purge, when they would kill him. He couldn't trust Nappa anymore. He couldn't trust Vegeta – not that he ever did.

"I don't know what Dad's doing," Raditz groaned, "but we have to find Mom."

"Why?" Kakarot shrugged. "She's probably the only one of us who's safe. Her power level's right where they want it to be."

"Fine. Then get your ass over to Vegeta."

Kakarot's eyes bulged. "Go to the castle now? Are you crazy?!"

Raditz grasped Kakarot by the collar of his thin tank top and pulled him in so they were nose to nose. "You know you're the only one who can get through to him, you bastard. For _once_  in your life, do something useful for someone besides yourself."

"Pff," Kakarot grabbed Raditz's hand and violently tore it from his clothing, " _you're_  one to talk."

"We both need to get out of here." Raditz glanced out the window as more elite troops flew in from the sky, landing in the smoke-filled street. "If you didn't get measured, you know they'll be coming here looking to kill you."

"Fine." Kakarot scoffed. "I'll go to Vegeta. Where are you going?"

"Me?" Raditz smirked. "I'm going to see where the second class fits into all of this. Maybe it won't have to be the elites against us alone."

Kakarot smirked back. "As long as we get to fight with somebody, I really don't care who's on our side. But if you have to kill Leeka, tell her goodbye for me."

Before Raditz could respond, Kakarot was running out of his bedroom and grabbing the armor discarded by his bedroom door. His footsteps were already thumping down the hall when Raditz glimpsed some soldiers approaching their small, dead-grass-filled yard. Without wasting another second, Raditz traveled towards the back of the house and made his way out the back door. He'd have to travel on foot if he didn't want to draw the elites' attention. They were probably ordered to shoot anything that moved in this area of the planet. When Raditz found Leeka, he wasn't sure whether he'd have a battle or comrades to welcome him. But he knew he'd enjoy finding her either way.

 


	8. Trespassers

The gray, crumbling exterior of Leeka's apartment building full of second class Saiyan residents was finally in Raditz's sight. Along the way there, Raditz ran into a few close calls with the elites scouting the surrounding area. Being out in the open wasn't any safer for third class citizens than being in their homes. He had to get in to see Leeka. But inside, he anticipated more confrontations.

With a glance over his shoulder at a trio of elites searching the area and clicking their scouters, Raditz swung open the side entry door to Leeka's building. He sighed in relief as the door closed and secured him in the building's temporary sanctuary. The dark hall in front of him was vacant for the moment, but Raditz could hear voices carrying from the surrounding areas where the hall branched out to lighted rooms with busy shadows dancing across the walls.

 

One boisterous laugh stood out above the rest. "What are you talking about?"

 

As Raditz approached the voices, a familiar one cried out, "the elites, Black-eye!"

 

Sucking in a breath, Raditz halted at the sound of Leeka's voice. Her voice was drowned out by the shouts and obscenities called by the others, but Raditz would know that sound anywhere. He hoped to talk to her alone, but that clearly wasn't going to be the case now. She was surrounded by others, but it was now or never. Raditz had to do this not only for the survival of his entire class, but mostly for his own survival. He had no choice.

 

Rounding the corner, Raditz saw the moderately-sized recreational room full of Saiyans. A screen with a green-skinned alien reporter was on, while two large males sitting in battle uniform at a small round table beneath the screen were engaged in an arm wrestling match. An older woman eyed the vending machine with her arms crossed over her armor, her tail swaying slowly behind her. In Raditz's line of view, Leeka was poised sitting on a table top, dressed for battle as well with her boots casually propped on the seat below her. Laughing with Leeka and stroking the tail of a stout, but powerful young female Saiyan was Black-eye, a neighbor of Leeka's Raditz had the displeasure of meeting on several occasions. The guy acted awfully elitist for a second class Saiyan. And he was a douche. He might've been a handsome douche with his squared jawline, small upsweep of black hair on his head and large muscles filling his armor while his powerful thighs were exposed with nothing more than a band around the left one, but he was a douche nonetheless. 

 

"Hey!" Black-eye shouted, the first to spy Raditz rounding the corner. "What're you doing here?"

 

"Raditz?" 

 

"Leeka," Raditz's eyes darted around at the six pairs of eyes staring at him, "I need to talk to you."

"Hey!" The older woman punched the vending machine and bared her teeth at Raditz. "You ain't talkin' to nobody! You shouldn't even be here now, third class."

Raditz glared and held his ground. "I wasn't talking to you."

"If it's about the elites," Leeka jumped to her feet, "we were just talking about what's going on out there."

"So you've heard?"

Black-eye crossed his arms. "Just about everything we need to hear."

"Which was?"

"Raditz," Leeka sighed while casting Black-eye and the hostile woman beside him a glare, "they mean serious business. King Vegeta really wants you all wiped out. Exterminated."

"You think I don't know that?"

"What she's trying to tell you is," the female beside Black-eye stepped forward and cocked her head at Raditz, "we don't want to get involved. The elites can have your puny asses for all we care."

"Scared to battle elites?" Raditz raised a brow. "How very Saiyan of you."

"Don't you mock us, you piece of trash. We're not dumb enough to go against the elites."

"Really?" Leeka stepped forward and shoved the other woman by the shoulder. "Because if the elites want to pick a fight with us later, what's really going to stop them?"

"She's got a point." The arm wrestlers in the back released their grip as one gnawed his lip pensively. "Once the elites are done with the third class, what's to stop them from coming after us?"

"We're going to resist them." Raditz insisted. "My father, Bardock is already leading a resistance and we're going to fight back. You have to choose a side, one or the other. And if you don't want to be dumb, you should choose wisely."

"Would choosing wisely mean choosing to join you?" Black-eye asked skeptically.

"Of course."

"Leeka," the older woman's eyes bulged as she stepped from the vending machine to peer through a distant window, "Leeka, they're coming."

Leeka darted to her side, her eyes bulging as she looked out the window. "Shit. Raditz, you need to leave."

"Leave?" Raditz scoffed. "You haven't even given me an answer."

Black-eye stepped towards Raditz with his fist raised. "How do you know we don't already have our answer?"

"Black-eye!" Leeka bared her teeth. "Stop fucking around. We need to get ready."

"Ready?" Raditz blinked. "Ready for what?"

"You idiot!" Leeka shoved Raditz away from the window. "Get outta here! You're wasting time."

When Leeka reached for the basket on the nearest table and retrieved a red-lensed scouter which she quickly affixed to her ear, Raditz cocked his head. The others looked like they were getting ready for a fight as they approached the same doorway through which he'd earlier entered the building. Grabbing the last passing Saiyan by the shoulder in the hall, Raditz drew in a breath, but the Saiyan shook him off before he could say a word.

"Leeka!"

"Raditz," Leeka glanced over her shoulder, scowling, "we're with you, dumbass. No elites are going to take us down after your weakling asses get handed to you."

"I don't know if I agree with that," Black-eye tapped his scouter and stationed himself by the door, "but there're powerful elites right out that door who are looking for a fight." He smiled. "Raditz was right about one thing. It might not be the smartest decision to side against the elites, but it's the most exciting one."

"Go!" Leeka smiled as she cast one last glance at Raditz. "Tell your father we'll catch up when we're ready for more."

Raditz smiled. He couldn't help skimming his eyes down Leeka's slender, toned body, over the curve of her rear cupped tightly in her black leotard and back up to her swaying tail which was just beginning to wrap around her waist in preparation for battle. Her long, lean legs were bent in preparation for the fight that was about to begin, which Raditz wanted to join so badly. He could feel his blood boiling at both the prospects of battle and the sight of Leeka poised to fight.

But Leeka was right. He had to get out of there. He was the target here, not them. And as much as he wanted to fight those elites outside, he knew he wouldn't stand a chance when he was outnumbered. Raditz had to run. King Vegeta was sending more and more of his army after them, it seemed. It was hard to believe that so many elites would follow these orders, but hopefully there were some who would refuse. Namely, the one Kakarot was going to meet, if his brother didn't fall through for them like the typical failure Raditz knew him to be.

* * *

 

 The instant he appeared in the castle halls, Kakarot ducked behind the nearest structure - a tall metal cart of shelves lined with food. The cart wasn't able to completely conceal him, but it gave just enough cover that when the food servers passed right by him, neither of them noticed his presence. Unfortunately, Vegeta didn't notice his presence either. Kakarot suddenly realized this was a very bad idea. The chances of being able to get Vegeta away from the ass-kissing elites surrounding him were looking very slim.

When more castle servants approached, walking hurriedly side by side towards the food cart, Kakarot darted away and discreetly slipped down the hall with his hand to the side of his face. Luckily, he wasn't seen, because if he was spotted there, he was as good as dead.

The flurry of movement in the hall caught Vegeta's eye. It wasn't as if he was interested in this conversation the fools around him were carrying. So it was easy to be distracted, to draw his eye from the conversation and cast a glance in that direction just in time to spy a figure turning the corner. The man's face was obscured by the two servants moving forward to grasp the metal of the food serving shelves and push them in Vegeta's direction. It was strange - for a moment Vegeta could've sworn that was Kakarot. But even Kakarot wasn't foolish enough to walk freely in the castle in the middle of the day. Puckering his lips in a brief moment of consternation, Vegeta crossed his arms and turned back to his conversation. He could let someone else chase down the idiot stumbling through his halls.

Once Kakarot turned the corner, he pressed his back against the wall, his breathing becoming ragged as the danger of his situation finally started sinking in. It seemed everywhere he turned, there were more people. The castle halls were crawling with elite Saiyans and loyal castle staff. And he was moving further from, rather than towards Vegeta.

 

Gritting his teeth, Kakarot took in his surroundings more carefully. He seemed to be hidden well enough into a nook he'd found, nestled in the shadows, where he could remain confident of being unseen. The two servers walked right past him with that tall cart of food, while he could still hear the voices carrying from the men and the one woman conversing with Vegeta. He could've eavesdropped on their conversation, except he didn't care what they were saying. He just wanted them to stop saying it to Vegeta so he could pull the prince aside without having to risk his life.

Groaning in frustration, Kakarot turned his head away from the meandering conversation. Down at the other end of the hall, he was surprised to see a petite, lithe figure making her way through the halls - a figure he knew very well.

Furrowing his brows, Kakarot muttered, "Mom?"

He had no idea what Gine would be doing walking around in the castle at a time like this. He had even less idea how she could be doing it so openly, and exposing her face to the servants that passed. As if she knew them. As if she belonged there. He felt like he'd entered some sort of alternate dimension, because in the world he lived in, his third class mother should've been dead already just for being there. If anything, when he glimpsed her face turning around the corner, she looked irritated, but she was still far from dead.

Then she disappeared. And once she disappeared, Kakarot remembered the urgency of his predicament. He needed to get moving, or he was going to be seen. He was not about to let his life come to an end by kneeling before King Vegeta, just to have the bastard laugh in his face before he was killed.

The thunderous noise of footsteps informed Kakarot that more guards were coming towards him. He wouldn't last much longer unseen by them in his little nook in the open hall. With a sharp gasp, Kakarot shot to his feet, keeping his head low as he turned down the vacant section of hall and pulled open the nearest door, just barely evading being spotted by the approaching elites as he slipped inside. Breathing raggedly, Kakarot pressed his back against the door shutting behind him in the darkness and attempted to calm his breathing. He didn't want those guards overhearing him when they passed, and if he let his energy get too high in this place, they might detect him via scouter anyways. He had to remain calm and lower his energy.

However, when a light flicked on from the depths of the large room he now inhabited, Kakarot found calming down nearly impossible. He felt a chill run up his spine as a large, sturdy looking figure moved towards him from the dimly lit area in the back of the room.

"Who're you?" The voice grumbled irritably. "What are you doing in my room?"

Casting his eyes to the side, Kakarot muttered, "looking for some peace and quiet."

He couldn't help flicking his gaze back to the tall, muscular figure approaching him and radiating power. The gaunt, solid jawline of the other young man was attractive. The deep-set eyes were shadowed by darkness, but that didn't stop Kakarot from checking out the features of his long-haired companion. Whoever he was, if Kakarot could get on friendly terms with him, maybe being spotted wouldn't be a problem.

Raising his chin and aiming his face towards the light, Kakarot pressed off the door and took a step towards the other man. "Say, while I'm he-"

"Kakarot?"

Kakarot froze mid-step, not liking the tone to that voice. Somehow, the man standing just past the bed recognized him, which wasn't good in and of itself. Even worse, the guy sounded appalled, almost infuriated to utter his name. Cocking his head slowly to the side, Kakarot took a slow step backwards.

"Kakarot!" The man advanced hurriedly, pinning Kakarot to the wall so fast he had no chance to react. "It is you!"

Kakarot's heart raced as he felt his ribs being crushed between the wall against his back and the elite's thick forearm pressing against his chest. He tried to gasp for air, but he was finding he could hardly breathe. And as he suffered, struggling to understand what this was all about, he studied the other man's face – his twitching eyes, his snarling mouth and show of teeth – but he was coming up empty on what this was about.

"Of all the people to barge into my room," the other man laughed, "it had to be you. The same wailing, irritating nuisance who nearly drove me insane all those years ago."

Kakarot knit his brows and studied the other's matured and handsome face more closely. "B-Bro…lly?"

Brolly narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth. The idiot looked perplexed, as if it wasn't obvious that Brolly was the same infant who was cradled in the incubator beside him, forced to listen to Kakarot's incessant screeching all those years ago. Brolly could've recognized Kakarot anywhere, no matter how long it had been. He still had that same unique style of hair, that same velvety brown tail, maybe even the same set of lungs. Brolly was going to have fun making the weakling scream again in agony before he died.

The Saiyan grasping him by the neck seemed mentally unstable. Kakarot had never seen anyone so bent on killing him before. Even Frieza's men didn't despise him to the extent that this Saiyan seemed to hate him. Kakarot knew now, it had to be Brolly. No one else staying in the castle would be this powerful, though the outcast Saiyan's presence on Planet Vegeta in and of itself was confusing. Kakarot had no time to think about how this was all possible though, not when Brolly's eyes were narrowing and his muscles were tensing.

When Brolly chuckled and curled his fingers around Kakarot's throat, Kakarot gasped. "Wait!"

"Why should I?"

"Br-"

Brolly bared his teeth as he curled his fingers tighter, wanting to shut Kakarot up as much as he wanted to make him feel pain. This was an opportunity Brolly had never expected, and he wasn't going to waste it. He thought for certain Kakarot wouldn't have survived his childhood being such a weakling, but he was alive and presented now to Brolly like a gift. Brolly would kill the one Saiyan who had completely unnerved him, haunting his memories for his entire life in exile until he finally returned to his home planet with the good fortune to be able to fulfill one of his greatest fantasies.

"I'm going to kill you, Kakarot." Brolly took a sharp sniff of the other Saiyan's pleasing essence of fear and defiance. "Slowly…and painfully."

Grimacing, Kakarot turned his head, both to alleviate the pressure Brolly was putting on his throat and to evade Brolly's burning gaze. The guy was crazy. It was obvious by the maniacal gleam in his eyes. Kakarot had to do something or he was going to die right there in the fucking castle, without Vegeta even knowing he was there.

But he couldn't power up. Raising his power would not only alert the guards of a skirmish, but alert Vegeta of his presence, and it was too soon for that. Kakarot had to find Vegeta unawares, smooth him over before proposing his father and brother's crazy idea of manipulating the Saiyan prince into playing war against his own king and father. As far as dealing with Brolly, Kakarot was going to have to find a way to do that without force.

Wincing, Kakarot struggled against the iron-clad grip around his neck and directed his twitching eyes towards the larger Saiyan snarling at him and pulling back his fist. Kakarot wanted to counter the attack he saw coming, but it was already too late. He was able to raise a hand to soften the blow, but without any strength powering his defense, he felt the force from Brolly's fist shooting through his open palm and into his ribcage. Kakarot was thrown back, hitting the wall before sliding to the ground on his hands and knees as he recovered from the massive pain throbbing in his gut and making him want to hurl.

Brolly was already coming towards him. Kakarot had no way of defending himself. If anything, he needed to find a way to power Brolly down, because the force he was using was going to draw some unwanted attention. Kakarot could teleport out of there, but he wasn't going to run from this like a coward, and Brolly wasn't going to give him the opportunity to concentrate long enough for that to work anyways. The only choice Kakarot could see was to stay down, clutching his ribcage as Brolly's rampaging footsteps drew near.

"Kakarot!"

Kakarot snapped his head up just in time to meet Brolly's gaze for a split second before Brolly raised his fists again. But this time, Kakarot noticed something in Brolly's eyes beyond untempered rage. There was something there, something he hadn't seen before. It was a familiar fire to Kakarot, one which he stoked almost as often as fighting. He could play with the desire hidden behind Brolly's rage, but it wasn't going to be easy.

Taking the second hit, Kakarot didn't have much time to contemplate his next move as he was hurtled into the ornately carved dresser which broke into shards of wood upon impact. He spun around quickly, raising his hands in a defensive posture as Brolly stepped forward, his eyes gleaming with malicious intent.

"Stop, Brolly!"

"Kakar-"

"I know why you're here, back on Planet Vegeta!"

Kakarot's rush of words made Brolly freeze in mid-movement. There was no way for that third class Saiyan to know about Brolly's desires, or even his father's desires, but Kakarot was surprisingly claiming he did, even in the middle of being beaten to death. As Kakarot opened his mouth to speak again, Brolly furrowed his brows, debating whether he wanted to hear what Kakarot had to say.

Kakarot wouldn't waste a second to give Brolly that chance of deliberation. "King Vegeta exiled you and your father, isn't that right?"

Brolly narrowed his eyes. "Where'd you hear that?"

"Everyone's heard it." Kakarot quickly moved on as Brolly's eye twitched at the remark. "He's a bastard, our king."

Brolly raised his chin. "He sure as hell is."

"He wants you dead because you're stronger than him."

"You know I am."

"And now he wants us dead, all of the third class, because we threaten him, too."

"You?" Brolly laughed and crossed his brawny arms. "What could your class possibly do to the king?"

"On our own?" Kakarot shrugged, relaxing as Brolly's demeanor visibly softened. "Not much. But with your help, we could give that dick the biggest embarrassment he's ever suffered."

"Embarrass King Vegeta?"

"Just imagine, Brolly," Kakarot smirked as Brolly met his gaze, "the king who exiled you being overthrown by the lowest of his people. Imagine what kind of revenge you'll have then."

Brolly inhaled deeply and rubbed his chin. A moment ago, he was all riled up with wanting to kill Kakarot. He was still thinking about it. And only a day ago, he was set to go to war for King Vegeta, only for the purpose of overthrowing him later and ruling the planet himself as his father had planned. But now, this was sounding like a better idea. It wouldn't be enough for the legendary Super Saiyan of their people to cause that asshole's downfall. The king needed to be utterly humiliated. That could only come from being killed by the lowest of the low. Someone like Kakarot.

"I'll fight his elite army," Brolly said, "but you'll need to kill the king. For everyone to witness."

Kakarot narrowed his eyes at Brolly. He tried to fight the urge to clutch his wounded abdomen, but the pain was too sharp as he stood more upright. With a groan, Kakarot considered Brolly's proposal. Of course, it wasn't much of a choice. It was either agree to kill King Vegeta by his own hand and accept Brolly's help, or allow Brolly to kill him right here and now, which the sadistic freak obviously was still itching to do.

"Deal." Kakarot huffed. "I'll kill the king."

Brolly tilted his head. "Think you can manage it?"

"Yes."

Kakarot pressed his shoulders back and moved as if to walk away, but Brolly stopped him. He wasn't going to allow his prey to get off so easy. Watching Kakarot wincing in pain during that conversation, watching his handsome face flushing with a pinkish hue as he huffed with the exertion of taking Brolly's abuse, was getting Brolly excited. Kakarot had truly grown up since the last time Brolly saw him. He was good for more than just killing and using to humiliate King Vegeta. The definition of Kakarot's muscles beneath his form-fitting blue Saiyan uniform exposed to Brolly every twitch of his muscle fibers as he raised his arm to grab Brolly's hand pressed against his chest. Brolly let his eyes wander down Kakarot's body as he licked his lips.

"Brolly."

When Brolly felt pressure tugging his hand from Kakarot's armor, Brolly pressed even more firmly into Kakarot's chest. "We're not finished yet."

Kakarot narrowed his eyes. "Now you don't want me to kill King Vegeta? I know you're crazy, Brolly, but you could at least make up your mind."

Brolly smirked as he studied the mischievous look in Kakarot's eyes. Though Kakarot was feigning ignorance, Brolly was sure that he knew exactly what Brolly wanted from him. If Brolly didn't know any better, he'd say Kakarot wanted it, too. But he wasn't going to admit it. Maybe this would work better if, for good measure, Brolly threatened to go back on the deal if Kakarot wasn't part of the package.

"Kakarot."

Brolly wrapped his arm around Kakarot's back and squeezed Kakarot until he could feel the bulge in Kakarot's pants mutually pressing against his cock through the thin fabric of their Saiyan uniforms. Brolly laughed.  He knew Kakarot was faking. Kakarot wanted this, too. It had been a long time since Brolly crossed paths with anyone worth fucking. He was going to make this good.

Kakarot pressed his hands against Brolly's twitching chest. "What…are you doing?"

There was no point even asking. Kakarot knew it was going to come to this. He'd seen that lustful gaze too many times before to actually convince himself that this wouldn't happen before he left this room. Brolly could still decide to kill him. He could still withdraw from his promise and turn on them when it came time for the real fight. And he could yell out for the guards right that moment and have Kakarot killed for trespassing. Kakarot's only chance of escape would be to transmission out of there if he could cut physical contact from Brolly long enough.

Leaning down to Kakarot's level, Brolly bared his teeth and whispered in Kakarot's ear, "I'm going to fuck you, or no deal."

Kakarot's eyes bulged as Brolly's moist teeth scraped his ear. "No deal?"

"No deal."

As Brolly released Kakarot, backing away to peel off his armor and eye Kakarot expectantly, Kakarot hesitated. This was his chance. He could transmission out of there, really piss Brolly off, and take his chances of smoothing this over with him later or facing a brutal death when Brolly tracked him down. Or, he could stay. 

Kakarot had never been with any man but Vegeta. Normally, he wouldn't entertain the idea with anyone but a female. This would really piss off Vegeta. But then again, in this instance, Kakarot had no choice. At least, not as far as Vegeta knew. Kakarot couldn't deny being curious, especially as his eyes fell on the broad, exposed and slick chest of the Saiyan standing in front of him and discarding his armor to the ground with a thud. Subconsciously, he licked his lips at the appealing sight of Brolly sliding his broad fingers under the waistband of his pants.

"Well," Brolly purred, "aren't you going to undress?"

"Uh." Kakarot swallowed hard before snapping out of it. "We have to make this quick. I'm not supposed to be here."

"Technically," Brolly kicked his pants off and smirked, "neither am I."

Kakarot smiled and kicked off his boots. This maneuver could be just as effective as converting Vegeta to their side. Of course, there'd be no facing Vegeta after this. Kakarot would have to stick with the third class on his side of things for the time being. And if Vegeta ever found out about this, he'd definitely side with the king, and probably kill Kakarot himself. Vegeta always hated Brolly for claiming to be 'the legendary super saiyan'. But that didn't matter to Kakarot, not as long as Brolly would help them kill the elites looking to destroy them all. If Brolly wanted a pre-massacre fuck, he would get it. Then they could meet up with Bardock and the others and give the elites the surprise of their lives.

 


	9. Expendable

As Kakarot slipped his feet into his boots, taking his final step of redressing himself, he stared distantly at the wall.  Brolly’s moans in his ear were playing in his mind as if it was still happening - his hands crushing Kakarot’s thighs, his breath panting against Kakarot’s neck, his soft tail sweeping between Kakarot’s legs, his cock stretching Kakarot as he plunged deeper again and again. Just the thought of it made Kakarot shiver as he recalled his own climax. There was no denying it had been good. But for some reason, Kakarot felt haunted by these thoughts. He felt…dirty.

He didn’t understand it. He’d fucked plenty of people before without an ounce of remorse. Kanna never seemed bothered by knowing he fucked other people. He didn’t care if she did, either. He could have his trysts with Vegeta - and those felt  _right_. But this. It wasn’t the fact that he did it to gain Brolly’s favor, either. He’d used sex to manipulate people before, even to toy with them. That never felt wrong. Shaking his head, Kakarot dismissed these thoughts he was having. He could fuck whoever he wanted.

“Kakarot,” Brolly’s voice overpowered the sounds of shuffling coming from his side of the room, “we should plan to meet late at night, when no one will notice me leaving the palace.”

Kakarot nodded and turned to face Brolly. He had to suppress the wave of nausea that overwhelmed him the moment he looked upon that smug, handsome face again.

“Can you get out of here unseen?” Brolly raised a brow. “Or do I need to create a distraction?”

Kakarot was quick to answer with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I’ve got it. You just be sure to show up. We made a deal.”

A smirk slowly spread across Brolly’s face. “And you’ve certainly kept up your end.”

“Guacamo Peak.” Kakarot hurriedly gathered his discarded armor into his arms. “Be there by midnight.”

Brolly nodded. “Guacamo Peak.”

Looking upon Brolly’s amused smile one last time, Kakarot cast the other man a glower. Brolly had always had some crazed obsession with him, but Kakarot never thought it would’ve evolved into something sexual. That development proved to be useful, even lifesaving, so he couldn’t complain. However, even now, Brolly seemed to be enjoying Kakarot’s discomfort, which he was exhibiting more than he’d like. Brolly was loving this - probably even more than he would’ve enjoyed killing Kakarot.

Pressing two fingers to his forehead, his eyes never leaving Brolly's, Kakarot disappeared from sight. Brolly stood in place, first shocked by Kakarot’s ability to disappear like that, and later lingering in the moment. He was basking in what he’d just accomplished. To his surprise, Kakarot had turned out to be a great lay. Maybe the best he’d ever had. Not only that, but Kakarot obviously enjoyed it, too. It was amusing to Brolly that  _now_  Kakarot seemed to be having regrets. Maybe even was disgusted with himself for what they’d just done. That wasn’t very Saiyan. Brolly was curious what that was all about, but he supposed once they took out King Vegeta and his elites, he was going to have all the time in the world to toy with Kakarot some more. He would be ruling Planet Vegeta. Everything on this planet would be his. And once he dealt with Lord Frieza, his people would worship him. He’d be the savior of their race. Brolly chuckled. This war was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

* * *

 

With a deep frown, King Vegeta cast his eyes on the woman lying shirtless in the bed beside him.  She'd been stiff, unresponsive, and absolutely boring during their latest fuck.  He appreciated her arriving in his bedchamber on schedule, but if she was going to come to him in this state, their agreement might as well be ended.

When Gine felt the sense of being watched, she turned her gaze from the ceiling to Vegeta, frowning when she saw the look on his face.  He wasn't satisfied.  Neither was she - not that she ever was in his bed.  But his lack of satisfaction could be a very bad thing.

"What is wrong with you today?"

"Nothing."  Gine sat up, prepared to turn her back on the king's irritated expression. 

She couldn’t believe she was here, in the castle, sitting in bed with the man intent on killing not only her family, but her entire class. It disgusted her, how he could kill as many as he’d killed so far, still intend to kill more, and lay in bed with a smile on his smug face.

Feeling her anger swell to the surface, Gine whirled on Vegeta. "What's wrong with me?  Wrong with  _me_?"

Vegeta raised a brow as the woman sat upright pressing her hand to her bare chest, moving about in agitation.  When he looked into her eyes, realization washed over him.  She knew about the murders of the third class.  He'd hoped she didn't, but it was clear as day now.  This was why she didn't want to fuck him.  She was angry.  He could play into that though.

"Oh," Vegeta smirked, "don't tell me one of those worthless nobodies my elites killed today was someone important to you.  Don't tell me they killed...Bardock."

Vegeta had to stifle a laugh as Gine's face turned a lovely shade of red. With her brows lowered and her lip pulled back in a snarl like that, she was the most beautiful creature Vegeta had ever seen.  As far as he could remember, at least.  He believed there was a time his queen had looked that fierce, but it had been so long that it was hard to recall.  And Gine was in his bed with all the pale, dewy skin of her torso exposed to his gaze.  Vegeta licked his lips as her mouth opened.

"Bardock is  _not_  dead.  Raditz isn't dead.  Kakarot isn't dead!"  Gine sat up on her knees.  "Need I remind you that the only reason I'm here is to keep it that way?"

"Need I remind  _you_ ," Vegeta bared his own teeth and sat up in a sudden movement, "that I am your king?!"

"Vege-" Gine choked on her words as Vegeta seized her by the throat, looking straight into her eyes with a yearning fire burning in his.  He would have his satisfaction today.

Grimacing at the pain she felt as Vegeta's rough hand crushed around her windpipe even harder, Gine swallowed hard.  She tried to speak his name, but no sound came out when she opened her mouth.  As Vegeta chuckled at her misfortune and ran his free hand softly down the length of her neck, Gine tensed.

"Something you want to say, hm?"  Vegeta's hand slid down Gine's chest until his fingers curled around the curve of her exposed breast.  Then he squeezed.  Hard.  "Something you dislike about me?"

When his hand released her throat, Gine gasped for air.  She didn't even mind being thrown down roughly on the bed, not as long as she could breathe again.  With another gasp, Gine rolled onto her back to look up at the king looming over her.

"Gine," King Vegeta chuckled as he shook his head and crawled over her like a predator, "I think you misunderstand our arrangement.  You seem to think you're in a position to question me."

Gine glared up at him.  " _Question_  you?  I'm calling you out, you sick fuck.  A king doesn't kill his own people!  Let Frieza worry about trying to do that.  The king of all Saiyans is supposed to-"

With a snarl of rage, Vegeta pulled his hand back and whipped it across Gine's cheek so hard and fast that she took several seconds to recover.  He would not be questioned in his own chambers.  He was nothing like that alien who dared to treat them as slaves.  He was doing the Saiyan race a favor by keeping the pure, powerful blood of the elites from being contaminated by the third class.  Third class scum, like Gine and her family. Vegeta watched as Gine sat there with her face turned to the side, her cheek red and swelling, her eyes fixed on the sheets in a daze.  Vegeta stroked her silky thigh with his calloused palm.  This heated encounter had his blood pumping.   _Now_  she was exciting him.

"I hate you."  Gine's voice was so low that Vegeta hardly heard it.  Then she snapped her gaze to him.  "I hate you."

"I know." Vegeta settled the weight of his chest on top of Gine, pinning her between him and the bed.  "You want me to make you hate me more?  Then you won't have to feel so bad about what you're doing to your pathetic, low class husband."  
  
Vegeta forced Gine's legs apart with his powerful thighs.  She was a Saiyan, and by no means weak.  But compared to the king, her strength was nothing.  He could do whatever he wanted with her, here in his bed, with no disruptions.  When she looked up at him, the fear in her eyes confirmed that she realized as much.  She might have been weak for a Saiyan, but she wasn't stupid.

Gine’s erratic breath panted against Vegeta’s face as her chest heaved beneath his. “King Vegeta.”

“I think it’s time you pay for your disrespect, Gine.” Vegeta slid his hardened member up and down the parting of Gine’s warm, moist folds, before seizing her arm in a bruising grasp. “I’ve grown  _bored_  with you.”

Gine’s heart pounded in her chest as she tensed in preparation for a rough penetration. She could tell the king had no intentions of being gentle with her - yet she was far more worried for what would happen  _after_  he fucked her. 

The hard rapping at the bedroom was a welcome sound. Gine held her breath, wary of what Vegeta might do, whether he would continue with his original intent in spite of looking irate as he sneered at the door from which the sound continued from the other side.

A muffled voice followed. “My king?”

“What?!”

The door creaked open, which Gine fixated her gaze on with baited breath. A young woman walked in, her eyes going wide when they fell on Gine and the king’s compromising position. “F-forgive me.”

“ _Never_  disrupt your king when he’s busy in his chambers.” As the petite Saiyan dressed in elite armor lowered her head, Vegeta pushed off of Gine. “Well, what is it?”

“Uh,” the woman startled, “Paragus requests your presence, my king.”

“Paragus?” Vegeta scoffed. “Requests  _my_  presence? Who does he think he is?”

“Wh-what would you like me to tell him, King Vegeta?”

“Tell him-“

Gine propped herself on her elbows, feeling a sudden urge to get out of there. She couldn’t spend another moment in the king’s presence if she valued her life. “Veget-“

Vegeta’s eyes turned on her, narrowing with unbridled hatred burning in his eyes. She knew he would be unhappy about being interrupted, but this was deeper than that. Gine felt her heart leap in her throat. She tensed, bracing for the impact of something which she couldn’t predict or prevent, yet knew was coming all the same.

“Tell him,” Vegeta forced the words through clenched teeth without unlocking his gaze from Gine’s fearful eyes, “if he attempts to  _summon_  me again, he’ll end up like her.”

“Like h-“

As Vegeta’s hands shot forward, Gine threw her forearms together to shield her face. The light permeated through the crevices between her arms, flooding over the distinct curves of her body until nothing of her was visible but the blinding light swallowing her whole. A burst of pressure pulled and pushed at her insides while scalding pain radiated from her chest. She burned hotter and hotter, until with the release of a pent-up scream that had been building within her petrified lungs, the pain erupted, flooding over her until it left her in utter darkness.

Vegeta ground his teeth as he watched Gine collapse back onto his crisped bedsheets with a gaping hole in her chest while her lovely, lifeless eyes rolled back in her head. The red blood splattered beautifully all over her body, and across the gray sheets, even on Vegeta’s bare chest. When Vegeta licked his lips, he hummed at the intoxicating flavor of the stray drop of Gine’s blood which had landed on his beard.

A quivering murmur from the doorway drew Vegeta’s attention from the beautiful sight of his latest kill. With a sideways glance, he confirmed that the servant standing in his door was trembling with horror at what she’d just witnessed. She probably wanted to scream. Fortunately, she knew better. Vegeta wouldn’t tolerate a Saiyan elite with no self-control living in his castle.

With the release of a heavy sigh, Vegeta raised himself up, pulling his pants back over his waist to cover himself and smirking at the sight of his servant’s cheeks flushing brightly. When his hand fell on the piled fabric of his shirt and his eyes fixed on hers, the servant raised her chin and clenched her jaw. Vegeta smiled.  _That_  was a Saiyan elite.

“My king?”

“You think you can relay that message to Paragus, woman?”

She narrowed her eyes at her king. “I can.” 

Vegeta tilted his head in consideration. This woman seemed to have potential to serve in Gine’s place. But those were thoughts for another time.

“And her?”

“Her.” Vegeta frowned at Gine wounded and bleeding all over his bed, lying lifeless on her back with her palms spread open across his bedsheets. She was almost a masterpiece like that, in all her nudity. But she was third class who couldn’t learn her place. She would’ve had to be put out with the trash eventually.

“Just get rid of her. No need to inform the family.” Vegeta smiled wickedly to himself. “They’ll find out soon enough.”

When Vegeta swept out of the room, grabbing his armor and cape along the way to the door, the Saiyan woman stood stiffly by his doorway. It wasn’t until the king turned into the hall that she set her eyes on Gine. She pushed the chamber door closed, and as soon as it clicked shut, she rushed to the king’s bedside where Gine lay.

Rushing through the halls, Vegeta tried to shake all thoughts of Gine from his mind. He was down one less concubine. He wouldn’t miss Gine. If anything, he had much to gain from her death. If that overconfident idiot Bardock actually thought he could lead a successful revolt, he had another thing coming. Vegeta didn’t want to regard the reports he’d heard from his men as fact, but they did have a point. The third class wasn’t going to just take this lying down. They were Saiyans, after all. The lowest of the low, but Saiyans nonetheless. They had too much pride to acknowledge that they were worthless to the Saiyan race.

When Vegeta turned the corner to find his son speaking with Nappa, he took a deep breath. He needed to inform his son of his actions and his plans, if only to protect the life of his only heir from any potential retaliation. He wasn’t sure how Vegeta was going to react to it. On the one hand, King Vegeta knew his son had no reservations about killing and despised the third class as much as he did. Vegeta would probably be all  _for_ destroying them. But then Vegeta despised Frieza more. There was a chance his son would fail to recognize the strategy behind  _eliminating_ the third class, rather than using them to maintain their numbers against Frieza. Besides, his son usually objected to everything he said, if only for the purpose of defying his king and father.

“Vegeta.”

When Nappa fell to one knee, Vegeta stopped speaking in mid-sentence and turned towards his father. “Father. Is there something you need?”

After taking a fleeting glance at Nappa rising to his feet, King Vegeta focused his gaze on his son. “I need you to be ready.”

Vegeta narrowed his eyes. “Ready for what?”

He knew something had happened the instant he saw the look in his father’s eyes. There was something between heated anticipation and foreboding in them. It would’ve been too obvious, this simply being a warning about an incoming revolt from the lower class. He would’ve had to be stupid not to notice all of those elites leaving the castle under his father’s orders to kill the Saiyans not cooperating with his new order. Yet it was hard to believe that so many Saiyans would doom themselves in such a way and fail to comply with a simple power reading, even if their power levels were shamefully low.

With a huff, King Vegeta absorbed the way his son crossed his arms and scowled at him, while Nappa’s eyes widened. Then he set his lips in a hard line.  “Bardock is going to make a move. Soon.”

“Bardock?” Vegeta raised a brow, casting a sideways glance at Nappa’s stunned visage. “Raditz’s father? How do you know it’s going to be him?”

“The entire third class is probably going to be up in arms after your latest orders, my King.”

“I  _know_ ,” King Vegeta drawled, “because I’ve received word of him gathering third class warriors together. And,” his lip twitched in amusement as he flicked his gaze between Nappa and Vegeta, “because I just killed his woman.”

“Wait.” Vegeta furrowed his brows. “What orders is Nappa talk-“

“Nappa!” King Vegeta hurriedly interrupted, turning to his guard. “Prince Vegeta is not to leave the castle. I want-“

“I am  _not_ ,” Vegeta balled his fists and glared at his father, “staying here.”

“Son,” King Vegeta bit his cheek, trying to control his temper, “we have Brolly to take care of these matters.  _His_  life is dispensable. If anything, I’m  _hoping_  for him to die, so we’ll win either way by sending him into this fight.”

“Sending someone else into a fight isn’t what I call winning.”

Nappa blinked. “Prince Vegeta…has a point, Sire.”

Vegeta smirked. “I call that something else.”

“You will stay here, Vegeta!” King Vegeta turned his furious gaze to Nappa. “And you! Make sure he doesn’t leave this castle.”

“K-King Vegeta!”

“If you fail, Nappa,” King Vegeta leaned intimidatingly into the taller warrior, “I’ll kill you myself.”

With that, the King turned, his cape billowing behind him as he made his way down the hall. Vegeta watched his father leave, baring his teeth at the king’s back. He didn’t know if his father thought putting Nappa’s life on the line was going to deter Vegeta from leaving, but that was too bad for that fool. Vegeta would not be kept in the castle while a war was happening on his planet. Things were just about to get interesting out there. With a raise of his chin and determined huff, Vegeta turned the opposite direction from which his father had departed and stormed off.

“P-Prince Vegeta!”

Lowering his chin, Vegeta continued his hurried pace and ignored Nappa’s call.

“Prince Vegeta, where are you-“ Nappa whimpered, “you-you can’t go!”

“Don’t tell me what I can’t do, Nappa.”

When Vegeta rounded the corner, determined to find his way to the nearest exit, he was startled by bumping forcefully into something blocking his path. With a growl, he raised his hand, intending to strike the servant who dared stumble in his way. But his hand was seized in mid-air. Vegeta’s eyes bulged as he followed the length of the powerful arm to find the tall Saiyan it was attached to smiling devilishly down at him.

“Prince Vegeta.”

“B-Brolly.” Vegeta yanked his hand free. “Watch where you’re going!”

“Oh,” Brolly chuckled the instant Vegeta stepped past him, “I know where  _I’m_  going.”

Vegeta hesitated. He didn’t turn to face Brolly, but he waited to hear more. Something about Brolly’s tone told him Brolly had much more to say. 

Just when he was about to leave, tiring of the silence that ensued, Brolly spoke again. “Do  _you_? Probably not.”

Vegeta whirled on Brolly. “If you have something to say, spit it out!”

Brolly’s only answer was to stare straight into Vegeta’s eyes with a smug smile on his face.

Vegeta growled under his breath and clenched his fists by his sides. “You were ordered to deal with the third class.”

It wasn’t a question, but Brolly felt like answering it all the same. He loved that he was capable of rubbing in Vegeta’s face the fact that he had been chosen, but it wasn’t nearly as fun as what  _other_  latest excitement he’d had. Still, it was more fun to toy with the Prince of Vegeta than it was to blatantly anger him.

“I was chosen by your father.” Brolly said. “And  _you’re_  supposed to stay here.”

Vegeta couldn’t contain the twitch that seized his eye, or resist the urge to bare his teeth at the smug bastard staring him in the face as another low growl rose from Vegeta’s throat.

“I know.” Brolly chuckled. “You don’t want to stay. I don’t blame you. But don’t forget, the prince is important to the Planet Vegeta.”

“That’s right.” Vegeta glared back. “ _I’m_  more important on this planet than anyone. Meanwhile,  _you_  are expendable.”

“Expendable.” Brolly’s lip slowly curled into another smirk as his eyes glazed over briefly. “That’s not what  _he_  said.”

“He?” Vegeta raised a brow. “He who?”

Brolly laughed. “Don’t worry, Prince Vegeta. I took good care of your visitor before sending him off. Very good care.”

“What in the hell are you talking about? I didn’t have any visitor!”

“No. I had him  _for_  you.” Brolly peeled his eyes from Vegeta to smile towards the doorway to which Vegeta had been headed. “Just like I’ll have your throne soon enough. Daddy isn’t planning very wisely.”

“Brolly!” Vegeta snarled as Brolly turned his back on Vegeta to head towards the door. “Brolly!”

He was leaving the castle, and Vegeta wanted more answers. Vegeta could tell that Brolly had done something he wasn’t going to like. But what that was, Vegeta didn’t know and Brolly wasn’t going to tell him. The one thing Vegeta was easily able to discern from Brolly’s talk was that Brolly thought his father’s recent decisions would deter Vegeta from taking the throne. Well, he wasn’t his father, and his father’s mistakes were not going to weigh on him. 

Granted, it was his father’s mistake to allow Paragus and Brolly into this castle, and it would be an even greater one to trust Brolly to lead the resistance against the inevitable revolt from the third class. Those two overpowered, banished fools could not be trusted. It was probably also a mistake to require all Saiyans to have their power levels checked. Vegeta knew his father was determined to destroy the third class, whose power was gaining for inexplicable reasons. He didn’t like their upsurge in power either, but their entire population would be able to make the connection between that and the elites attacking the third class in mass on their own territory. Any fool could put those pieces together. But Brolly was involved in something beyond all of that.

When Brolly reached for the door handle, he cast a final glance over his shoulder, pleased to see the pensive stare on Prince Vegeta’s face. He wished he could stick around to see the prince’s reaction when he discovered the truth, if he really did have feelings for Kakarot as rumors suggested, and as Kakarot’s behavior had Brolly suspecting. But Brolly needed to leave, before the king discovered his intent of betrayal, and before his father tracked him down to change his mind. With a whoosh from the outside air hitting his face, Brolly pulled the door open and took to the sky with a deep breath. When he would return to this castle, it would be to take the throne as Planet Vegeta’s new ruler.

With his agitation growing, Vegeta became suddenly aware of his surroundings. In the castle halls, onlooking elite guards and castle servants were curiously staring after Brolly’s departure and back to Vegeta. Vegeta didn’t want any of them to see how disturbed he felt, how unhinged he felt by Brolly’s cryptic comments. With a grunt, he made a sharp turn for the throne room, determined to escape the prying eyes set upon him. When he entered the throne room set in darkness, he didn’t bother turning on a light. He liked the cold, empty feeling of the massive chambered that echoed his footsteps as he approached his father’s throne. Soon, this throne would be his, as long as he didn’t allow his father or Brolly to do anything stupid to screw it up. 

Vegeta had to do something about his father’s plans. But first, he had to know what Brolly was up to. It was eating him up inside, not knowing who this visitor was that made Brolly feel so much less expendable. It was obviously someone important to Vegeta, who wasn’t his father. Vegeta would guess his brother, but even if Tarble found a way back to Planet Vegeta, Brolly wouldn’t refer to him as a visitor. Vegeta’s purge team was hardly of any important to him. He would kill Nappa and Raditz himself if they stood in his way. And women-

Vegeta gasped. All at once, the pieces starting clicking into place. Most of his lovers were expendable, but only one was male, and only one was different. Vegeta realized this  _he_  Brolly spoke of was someone forbidden, tempting, and to whom Brolly also held a strange infatuation, which explained Brolly’s self-satisfaction with his accomplishment. Plus there was only one person Vegeta knew who was brazen enough to visit him in the castle and find his way out unseen. 

Kakarot hadn’t been by to see him recently. 

Vegeta’s eye twitched again as another realization hit him. Brolly said he took  _good care_  of Vegeta’s visitor before sending him on his way. Vegeta’s fingers curled into the ornately curved metal arm of the throne until the metal folded beneath his gloved fingertips. His eyes narrowed into a cold glare as the throne room doorway crept open, letting a sliver of light pierce Vegeta’s comfortable darkness. He could forgive the light breaking into his comfort for  _this_. He didn’t know how, and he didn’t know why, but the power signature he felt from the other side of that door belonged to exactly the third class idiot he needed to see. 

 


	10. Decisions To Make

Vegeta was on the other side of that door – the door Kakarot had been drawn back to, in spite of the risks of being seen here. He didn't know why he'd returned to the castle, why he couldn't just leave it alone to meet with the other third class Saiyans. His father and brother were probably planning already, moving their rebellion along without him. But part of Kakarot refused to leave here without seeing Vegeta. He had been looking forward to seeing those dark eyes amid the prince's handsome face; Kakarot was too disappointed with the lack of contact to leave so soon. His run-in with Brolly was unexpected and unfortunate. Now, he couldn't deny he much rather would've coaxed Vegeta into cooperation.

With a deep breath, Kakarot pushed against the heavy door carved with the crest of the royal family. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he peered into the darkness of the throne room. From within, he could feel Vegeta's energy spiking erratically, pulsing with anger which only seemed to grow as the door opened wider. Kakarot wasn't sure what Vegeta knew and what he didn't, but he was willing to bet that Vegeta knew  _enough_ that Kakarot wouldn't have to explain himself. Vegeta would do that in the form of accusations and diatribe. Nevertheless, Kakarot stepped through that door, his eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness as a vague shadow stood from the throne.

"Kakarot."

"Vegeta."

Vegeta felt his eye twitch as Kakarot stepped forward, his silhouette backlit by the light from the door swinging closed behind him. At the flash of Kakarot's teeth shimmering in the darkness, Vegeta balled his fists and growled low in his throat. That moron had a lot of nerve walking into his throne room with a smile on his face. Especially after what he'd just done.

Vegeta angled a glare. "Come to face punishment for your betrayal, Third Class?"

"There's a lot of that going around, Vegeta." Kakarot extended his arm, flicking a switch that illuminated the massive room in an instant. "But I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Don't play innocent with me."

Kakarot knew a smile would push Vegeta to his limit. As he looked into the darkness of Vegeta's dilated eyes filled with fury, Kakarot felt his smile grow wider. All he could think about was what Vegeta was going to do to him. If he pushed Vegeta far enough, Kakarot could get from the prince what he really wanted from  _him_ , and not Brolly, all along. Kakarot wanted Vegeta to feel the need to punish him now. It would let him forget about Brolly, whose fingers he could still feel clinging to his body, whose musky scent was still clinging to Kakarot's skin. Only Vegeta could wash it all away.

"Tell me what you discussed with Brolly."

Kakarot stilled with a huff, halting the progress across the tiled floor he'd been making towards Vegeta. Vegeta raised his chin, his eyes never leaving Kakarot's smug face. Vegeta knew the lying bastard was getting ready to spew some bullshit he didn't want to hear. One word out of his mouth that Vegeta didn't like, and he was going to let Kakarot have it.

Kakarot crossed his arms. "Well, it was about what you just mentioned, Vegeta. But honestly, we didn't do much talking."

Kakarot licked his lips as he watched Vegeta. He could practically feel his prince's rage boiling to the surface. He tried to control his breathing, but he was convinced that Vegeta could see through him too well. He couldn't hide his excitement or his growing arousal.

"I  _know_  what you did with him, Fool." Vegeta growled. "How could you?"

"It wasn't easy." Kakarot smirked, his eyes dancing with amusement. "Brolly's strong and he has to have the biggest-"

"You  _dare_  to make a joke out of this?!" Vegeta raged. "Right here in my throne room?"

Kakarot's smirk disappeared as he glowered at the prince. "It's called survival, Vegeta. Brolly was going to kill me."

He was so close to attacking. Kakarot was having mixed feelings, discussing what he did with Brolly, something he'd rather forget, while trying to summon Vegeta's violent passion. The memories of Brolly were unpleasant, so he quickly tried to squash them and focus on Vegeta's top lip pulling back to bare his gums and gnashing teeth. He wanted so badly to envelop those smooth lips with his own.

"So you let him fuck you instead?"

Kakarot fixed a challenging gaze on Vegeta. "Not all of us have a royal title to throw around every time someone more powerful threatens us."

Vegeta growled and bared his teeth as his veins pulsed in his temple. He had never been so furious with anyone. Kakarot always infuriated him, but this was out of line, even for him. To suggest Vegeta's royalty had anything to do with how he handled his battles, to talk to his prince that way, Kakarot had to be suicidal. And it was all to deflect Vegeta's thinking from Kakarot fucking Brolly - that psychotic, traitorous bastard - behind his back!

"Why, you!" Vegeta lunged for Kakarot.

Throwing his fist only a second before Kakarot dodged the blow, Vegeta grazed Kakarot's skull enough to cause a flash of pain on the other's face. He followed by sinking punches into Kakarot's body, using his fists to share every bit of his pain with Kakarot.

Vegeta was going berserk on him, even more than Kakarot had expected. Kakarot was able to block a few attacks, though they came in with full force, making one hard, bruising collision after another with his arms and hands. Most of Vegeta's attacks, however, were impossible for him to counter. Those were the ones that made him lurch forward and cry out in pain. As the accumulating torment of all the previous hits compounded, Kakarot's resistance began to weaken, but he wasn't going to hit Vegeta back. His fighting back would ruin the mood. He wanted Vegeta to feel powerful. He wanted Vegeta to feel dominating. If anything, the pain was freeing.

When Vegeta punched Kakarot for a final time, twisting his fist deep in Kakarot's gut for added punishment, Kakarot finally fell to his knees. Kakarot's eyes darted to meet his for only a second before Vegeta kicked him in the head, needing to keep those pleading, deceptive eyes out of his view.

Thrown to the ground in a daze, Kakarot landed with his chin hitting hard against the cracked, shining tiles of the royal throne room. He groaned with a smile on his bleeding face as he tried to push himself up, but the firm grasp of hands on his waist, followed by the unmistakable sound of ripping fabric caused him to hesitate. This was it. Vegeta was going to give him exactly what he wanted. Slipping a thumb beneath the elastic around his waist, Kakarot wiggled his tight pants down his thighs and turned his gaze at the ceiling, before closing his eyes and waiting for Vegeta to take him.

Grasping Kakarot's bare hips, Vegeta yanked the bastard to his knees. Panting and trying to catch his breath, Vegeta desperately struggled to work around his hard armor and peel his elastic pants from his hips and release his pulsing cock as he positioned himself between Kakarot's legs, but his trembling fingers weren't cooperating.

Kakarot opened his eyes, furrowing his brows when nothing immediately happened. But then his hips were seized in that bruising grip again before something warm, moistened, and soft pressed between the cleft of his ass. Intense pressure ensued, causing Kakarot to hold his breath and still while trying to relax before he felt the burning stretch of Vegeta's cock filling him. Once Vegeta was fully seated, after fighting Kakarot's body's resistance to his penetration, he slowly eased out, enjoying the slick, tight walls rubbing against his cock before he thrust into Kakarot with one smooth, delicious stroke that sent a shiver up his spine. But as Vegeta turned his eyes down at Kakarot's back arched below him, the tail swaying magnificently in his face, Vegeta bared his teeth and remembered everything about Brolly.

Vegeta pulled back and gave a hard and sudden thrust. "Is this how he did it? Does  _this_  make you feel safe, Kakarot?!"

Kakarot gasped with pleasure, despite the relentless pounding Vegeta was giving him that felt like he was being torn up inside. He didn't mind how violent Vegeta was. He wanted this, and whether Vegeta knew it or not, he asked for this. But Kakarot wouldn't give Vegeta the satisfaction of knowing he was in pain. Not yet.

With a sadistic gleam in his eyes, Kakarot chuckled. "If you wanted to fuck, you should've just said so!"

Vegeta's brief moment of stilled shock gave Kakarot the chance to headbutt the prince and force him off just long enough for Kakarot to flip himself over. He knew Vegeta would come right back down on top of him, but that was exactly what he wanted. When Vegeta thrust his hips forward, forcefully entering Kakarot again, Kakarot thread his fingers through the soft dark hair at the back of Vegeta's head, yanking him down towards his face to plant a bruising kiss against the furious prince's swollen lips. That action only worsened the prince's fury. Vegeta thrust harder than before, but Kakarot didn't care. As much as he knew Vegeta wanted to hurt him, his pain couldn't outweigh his pleasure from the sensations of Vegeta's lips and the passionate fury in Vegeta's eyes.

Vegeta was an incredible, compact force, something to be drawn to and feared all at once. His fury and his power were only part of what made him so attractive, but damn, Kakarot could never get enough of him, no matter how much Vegeta tried to cause him pain. Kakarot pulled forcefully on the hair tangled in his fingers again to guide Vegeta's ear to his lips. He bared his teeth, nipping on Vegeta's earlobe hard enough to draw blood, grunting as Vegeta responded with a long, deep thrust.

Kakarot whispered in Vegeta's ear, "harder."

Vegeta screamed, infuriated by Kakarot's taunting, but turned on by how he was taking this at the same time. He would never understand how one man could draw so much passion from him. He'd never felt like this about anyone else before, and probably never would. Vegeta knew he couldn't hide his enjoyment from Kakarot. Kakarot could see his eyes clouding over with lust, but Vegeta still continued to thrust into his ass harder and deeper, regardless of the fact that his punishment was failing. Now, it was just a matter of making himself feel good.

Kakarot wanted to make sure Vegeta had his share of suffering for this attack. Protruding his tongue to lick up and down the prince's ear, Kakarot whispered a cruel reminder. "Brolly was better."

Vegeta screamed and glared irately as his eyes met Kakarot's, before flipping him over forcefully and entering him again from behind. This time, all Kakarot could feel was pleasure as Vegeta filled him again and stretched him, thrusting, stroking his blood-coated insides mercilessly. In spite of his many injuries from that earlier beating, the brutality of Vegeta's thrusts, and his own increasing weakness, Vegeta's thick cock filling him felt delicious. Then, the euphoric sensation of a hand gently stroking the fur of his sensitive tail nearly broke him. In combination with Vegeta's cock stroking inside him, the sensation along his tail magnified everything else he was feeling. Kakarot moaned as his eyes rolled back in his head. With that one touch, he was putty in Vegeta's hands.

Vegeta chuckled at Kakarot's sounds as he continued thrusting and admiring the soft, brown fur passing through his white, blood-stained gloves. Kakarot was the only one he knew who could take this sort of abuse and find pleasure in it. He seemed to be the only man on the planet who could handle Vegeta. His moans and the gyrations of that glorious ass were feeding into Vegeta's lust, which had started as a need for Kakarot's blood, but now had converted to a need for Kakarot's submission. And that, he always could win, no matter how proud and stubborn Kakarot could be. Brolly might have fucked Kakarot, but Kakarot was  _his_. As often as Vegeta took other lovers, he always came back to Kakarot.

"Mine!" Vegeta roared as he came, eliciting euphoric moans and grunts from his recurrent rival-turned-lover, who collapsed beneath him, falling on the shattered tiles coated with the moist stream of his own spilt seed.

Vegeta panted as all the exertion, the heightened sensations, the euphoria of the sex and the fight caught up with him. He didn't even pull out of Kakarot until his breathing was even again and the handsome fool was nearly unconscious. Vegeta narrowed his eyes at Kakarot's scarred and bruising back as his senses came back to him. Kakarot had betrayed him, disrespected him, and bruised his pride. Vegeta hated Kakarot like he never hated anyone before.

Movements from Vegeta caused Kakarot to flinch, slightly rousing from his in-and-out unconscious state as his fingers curled around a jagged shard of tile while his other hand dragged across a moist puddle of blood.

As Vegeta adjusted his spandex to cover himself and make himself presentable, beyond the undeniable evidence of having been in a bloody fight, he watched Kakarot's movements cease. "Clean yourself up. You look lower than the third class piece of trash you are."

Raising his chin, Vegeta strode through the decimated throne room. He was dismissing the other man, who laid bruised and battered on the bloody ground, just as Vegeta wanted to leave him. He wanted to make some part of Kakarot feel hurt and humiliation. Vegeta couldn't do that any better than abandoning him.

Kakarot bobbed his head, consciousness greeting him with allover aching pains and the inability to move. He grunted as he tried to get up, but collapsed with a hiss of pain. Vegeta had bruised him up pretty bad. He was sure he'd lost a good amount of blood from his injuries, too. He'd need to get himself to a healing tank, which wouldn't be easy, given that he was in the castle and would likely be killed for stepping foot anywhere near the prince. But he didn't regret sleeping with Brolly, which led him to being in this position. The freakishly strong elite moron could prove useful in the fight now that he was roped into the third class' side. Kakarot also didn't regret Vegeta discovering his betrayal - not in the least. That was some of the best sex he'd ever had.

* * *

Walking past servants in the hall, Vegeta felt a relentless urge clawing at him. He did his best to ignore it, until finally he let out a defeated growl and seized the nearest servant by the armor as he passed.

"You," Vegeta grumbled. "You are going to go in that room and do something for me, but no one can know."

This wasn't any admission of guilt on his part, and certainly not of his feelings. Vegeta was convinced that this was a measure he was willing to take solely for the purpose of saving himself whatever embarrassment could occur if Kakarot were discovered back there.

"S-something, Prince Vegeta? What?"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes. "His presence here can't be discovered. If he's seen by anyone, I'll kill you."

The young servant nodded fervently as Vegeta released him. "Y-yes, Prince!"

"And if he  _dies_ ," Vegeta said through clenched teeth, "you'll share his fate. Got it? Get him to the tanks. And  _watch_  him."

" _Him_ , Prince Vegeta?"

Vegeta looked away. "His name is Kakarot."

The servant gasped. "Kakarot?"

Recognizing that tone of familiarity, Vegeta turned a heated glare on the astounded servant. "I  _don't_  suggest you ask any more questions!"

The servant trembled, resigned to his fate as he pressed his lips together and nodded. With a lick of his lips, Vegeta turned away, feeling almost sorry for the servant. It was bad luck, being stuck in his predicament. But at least Vegeta knew someone was going to literally be guarding Kakarot with his life.

Crossing his arms, Vegeta continued down the hall while the servant raced in the opposite direction. He wondered what Brolly was up to. It was obvious that Brolly and his father wanted the crown to fail. They were looking forward to Vegeta's father's mistakes leading to the downfall of their rule. Not that Vegeta would allow that. But Brolly seemed confident that things were heading that way when he left.

Vegeta glanced over his shoulder at the thought, recalling Brolly's sudden departure. Brolly was headed somewhere in a hurry, after seeing Kakarot. Vegeta almost regretted beating the hell out of Kakarot now. There was no one who could answer his simple questions. Brolly wanted the throne for himself. Kakarot wanted Vegeta. He also might want revenge for the death of his mother, if he knew already. Kakarot certainly wanted to preserve his own life along with the rest of the third class, which the king was anxious to destroy. Knowing all of this, Vegeta pressed his chin to his chest in thought as he made his way to his chambers. If there was any common goal he could think of Brolly and Kakarot having, it would be his father's death. Kakarot would be stupid to trust Brolly, though.

"Shit!"

Realizing that was likely exactly what that idiot was doing, and the reason Brolly had abandoned the castle, Vegeta raced through the castle to find his father. Along the way, his determination slowly dissipated. He needed to warn his father right away –  _if_ he wanted to save his father's life. Telling the king would be a death sentence for Brolly and Kakarot both, even if Vegeta's assumptions were wrong. And his father's mission would continue – a mission to destroy the entire lower ranks of their race, simply for the threat of their power. Wasn't the power of the entire Saiyans race something of value to the throne? Vegeta always thought so. With a powerful Saiyan army, Planet Vegeta might one day successfully rebel against Frieza's enslavement. With the warring of one class against another, their numbers would be reduced, giving Frieza the absolute control he wanted.

Vegeta's run slowed into a steady gait as he continued down the long hallway. He couldn't help doubting himself. Maybe it was the thought of Kakarot's death, of being the one to cause it that was misleading him from the reasonable conclusion his father must've reached to make this decision. Debating with his warring thoughts, Vegeta slowed further, deliberately avoiding closing the gap between him and his father. He had a decision to make before speaking to anyone. For the first time, he needed to think like a king.

 


	11. Lights Out

The night sky over the ridged mountain peaks was dark and moonless, though it wouldn't be for much longer. The timing of this revolt couldn't be worse, landing on the year of a full moon. They had to hurry this up, or the elites would have an advantage over them for sure. It wasn't going to matter much though, if Kakarot and his elite ally didn't show soon. Bardock checked his scouter. There was no sign of anyone approaching. His scouter was picking up hundreds of high power levels from the castle, likely including Prince Vegeta's…and possibly Kakarot's.

"Where is he?" Bardock groaned.

"What did you expect?" Raditz said from Bardock's flank, throwing an arm over Leeka's shoulder. "This is Kakarot."

Bardock pressed his hand against the boulder he and the crew were using for cover in the off-chance that elites would venture their way. There was no masking their power levels out here in the mountains. They could  _dampen_  their powers with technology, but not hide them completely, especially with the amount of warriors gathered together.

With a fleeting glance over his shoulder, Bardock met Raditz's eyes. He was impressed that his son had managed to bring the second class Saiyans into the fold on their side. At least  _one_  of his sons was doing something right. Though Kakarot wasn't the only one on his shit list. Like Kakarot, Bardock couldn't help wondering where  _Gine_  was. She knew it was dangerous to be on her own. She should've joined them by now. Instead, no one had heard a word from her.

"Dad," Raditz said. "What are you thinking about? Is it-"

"There!" Seripa's voice made the words catch in Raditz's throat.

He held his growl as his eyes shifted from his father's face to Seripa's. Her pink scouter lens was flashing symbols as it beeped a steady rhythm. Raditz knew his father was thinking about his mom. She'd been missing in action for hours. But judging by the urgency in Seripa's voice, his mother would have to wait.

Seripa pressed a finger into her scouter and narrowed her gaze at the darkness. "I'm getting a reading. Someone's coming."

"Just one?" Leeka asked.

Seripa nodded. "One."

"Kakarot," Bardock said.

"No." Raditz checked the stats on his scouter and following Seripa's gaze. "Power level's too high."

Bardock balked and exchanged a glance with Seripa. "Prince Vegeta?"

Raditz snorted. "Yeah,  _right_. His royal highness wouldn't come here on his own. I'd be shocked if Kakarot even managed to drag him here against his will."

"Getting closer," Seripa said. "Who'd be at Guacamo Peak?"

"Is that where it's coming from?" Leeka asked.

Seripa nodded, before scrambling to her feet. Raditz followed suit with Leeka mirroring his movements. There was a good chance this unknown power approaching was an elite moving in for the attack. If it was, coming alone was a dumb move. Raditz knew he and the others could kill a single elite if it came to a fight. The only problem was, the fighting would give away their position to the rest of the elites who  _weren't_  already busy in the third class territory on murder sprees. A white spark of aura in the dark sky caught Raditz's eye just before his father held up a hand.

"Hold it." Bardock narrowed his eyes at the growing entity coming into view. "Is that...Brolly?"

"Brolly?" Seripa said.

"The kid who hated Kakarot's guts before King Vegeta banished him?" Raditz asked.

Bardock shot to his feet and balled his fists. "I think that's him."

"What the hell is he doing here?" Raditz yelled.

Seripa narrowed her eyes at Bardock. "You really think Paragus brought him back here? I didn't think he had the balls."

"Maybe he knew," Bardock said, shooting Seripa a glance. "Maybe he knows what King Vegeta's doing to the third class."

While the white haze of aura neared, now clearly surrounding Brolly, Seripa nodded slowly. "Taking advantage of the divisive chaos. Now  _that_  sounds like Paragus."

"How could he know?" Raditz said, grabbing his father roughly by the shoulder. "Even  _we_  didn't know about this until a few days ago!"

Bardock scowled at his son, before turning his gaze to the arriving party swooping down from the sky. "Why don't we ask  _him_?"

Brolly's boots thumped on the hard rock. Past a massive boulder, he spotted a small crowd of third and second-class Saiyans. One resembled Kakarot from the distance, but now that Brolly was closer, looking upon that face made his eye twitch and the curl at the corners of his lip fall into a frown. Just like Guacamo Peak, there was no sign of Kakarot here.

Kakarot's doppelgänger, now clearly his father, stepped forward. "Brolly!"

Brolly raised a brow, panning his gaze across the many faces staring at him. "I see I'm the only elite here."

"For now," Bardock said. "Where's-"

"Kakarot?" Brolly said.

Bardock clenched his fists. If Brolly killed his son, Bardock was going to kill this bastard right now. Legendary Super Saiyan or not, Bardock wouldn't hold himself back. Raditz was ready to take command if anything happened to Bardock. But Kakarot was the piece that would hold their revolt together. The reasons for this were still unclear to Bardock, but it couldn't have been more blatantly true in his visions. Without his son alive, Bardock had no reason to concern himself with preserving his life - especially now, when he had to assume the worst about Gine's extended absence.

"I hoped to find him here," Brolly said, letting his arms fall loosely to his sides as he turned toward Raditz and the others. "He wasn't at Guacamo Peak."

Raditz raised a brow. "You're...helping my brother?"

With a blasé shrug, Brolly cocked his head and grabbed a small cold rock sitting atop the boulder. It wasn't easy to hide his disappointment at missing Kakarot, but he was trying. He would never be king if he wasn't stronger than his people - above his emotions, just like his father always said. He gave the rock a toss and looked to Raditz as he swiped it from the air.

"We had an agreement," Brolly said, smirking. "He held up his end. I intended to as well. But Kakarot wasn't at our meeting place. He's not here."

Raditz watched Brolly crush the rock in his hand, the gray dust falling from his clenched fingers as his eyes narrowed. Brolly's moods were unpredictable. It was part of the reason why even as a kid, he'd been deemed a danger to their planet. Excommunicating Brolly and Paragus was one of King Vegeta's few decisions Raditz could support. He wasn't just going to sit here and wait for the bastard to attack them.

Leeka pressed a hand against Raditz's chest as he leaned toward Brolly. Her eyes penetrated Raditz's before darting to Brolly and back. "Woah! You guys are getting ahead of me now. I'm still stuck back at how the fuck Brolly is even on Planet Vegeta. Brolly?"

"Leeka," Bardock groaned.

Leeka's eyes narrowed first on Brolly, then on Bardock. Raditz knew there was no point in arguing with her when she had that look in her eyes, but he hoped Leeka knew what she was doing.

"My father might've intercepted a ship," Brolly said coyly.

Leeka raised a brow. "And?"

"A ship with valuable cargo, carrying valuable information."

"Really?" Raditz snorted, crossing his arms. "Something shipped from Planet Vegeta with valuable information?"

Brolly shrugged, a smile stretching across his face. "More like some _one_. But my father knew it was time for us to return, so we did."

Bardock crossed his arms. "Just in time for a war."

Brolly's smile widened, accentuating the gleam in his eyes. "I know. Lucky, wasn't it?"

Bardock scoffed at the absurdity of any luck being involved here. But before he opened his mouth to continue this conversation, a thought occurred to him which superseded his previous thought.

" _Why_  are you doing this?" Bardock asked. "What are the terms of yours and Kakarot's agreement?"

He wanted to hook his fingers in Brolly's armor and shake the hell out of the bastard. Because the more he thought about it, the more he  _knew_. The reason Brolly and Paragus returned at this time was purely selfish, not that he should've expected any different. He was never going to step aside and watch Paragus and his volatile son take such an important seat of power. Curling his fingers in on themselves, Bardock fought the urge to attack Brolly. With the bigger problems he had now, the last thing Bardock needed was to engage with someone as powerful as Brolly.

Brolly met Bardock's gaze, smiling before he let out a sigh. "Seeing that Kakarot's not here, I'm not obligated to anything. I  _could_  kill you all, if I felt like it."

Seripa scoffed through her teeth. "We know you could."

"You all wouldn't be any better off if you could defeat me," Brolly said with a chuckle. "The king is your real problem. I think it's time this planet crowns a new one."

"Who?" Leeka raised a brow. " _You_? The man who just threatened to kill us?"

"Oh," Brolly said with a sly smile. "That wasn't a threat. You'll know when I make a threat. But it would be a good idea to crown me."

Bardock exchanged a glance with Raditz, who along with Leeka, seemed to be thinking the same thing Bardock was. None of them wanted Brolly for their king. His reign could be possibly worse than King Vegeta's. But Brolly was here, apparently selected by Kakarot somehow. And he was offering his hand in their side of this rebellion. Refusing him, though he claimed to be making no threats, was most likely going to end in their deaths right here and now. If not now, later for sure if he decided to back the elites, as Paragus most likely wanted his son to do before betraying the king. Bardock hoped Kakarot knew what he was doing - though he doubted that.

"What are the terms," Bardock repeated, "of yours and Kakarot's agreement?"

Brolly's eyes flickered to Raditz, before meeting Bardock's. "I'm not sure you want to know the full details of what your son agreed to. But after meeting Kakarot tonight, I would join your revolt. I would fight any elites, as long as Kakarot killed the king himself. I'm willing to stick to those arrangements if-"

"Your arrangement is with  _me_  now. Bardock," Bardock interrupted.

Raditz narrowed his eyes at Brolly, whose decision to allow Kakarot to kill the king was surprising. But as Raditz looked at his father and heard Bardock's decisive tone, he realized his father wasn't surprised. Raditz looked to Brolly again, but quickly averted his gaze when Brolly licked his lips.

Raditz turned his eyes on Leeka. He had to remember Brolly's motives were not something he could predict, but he hoped in this instance, with that look, his suspicions about Brolly's intentions were wrong. Brolly's eyes burning into him seared his memory even as he fixed his gaze on Leeka's supple lips.

"You, Bardock?" Brolly's lip twitched with a smile. "There are certain parts of the arrangement your son already satisfied. What can  _you_  offer me in return for my strength in your battle?"

"The only reason you want Kakarot to kill King Vegeta is to humiliate our ruler before he dies," Bardock said, crossing his arms. "Being killed by a third class will do that. I'm just as third class as Kakarot. And I have my reasons to want Vegeta dead, aside from the obvious."

Brolly raised a brow. "Which are?"

Bardock grinned. "None of your business. But you won't hear any argument from me over killing the bastard."

"So third class Bardock kills King Vegeta," Brolly mused, rubbing his chin. "And I beat the hell out of a bunch of elites."

"We  _all_  do," Raditz said with a smirk.

Brolly returned the smirk. "Sounds like fun."

"Raditz. Leeka," Bardock said. "Show Brolly to the camp so he can pick a tent."

As Raditz and Leeka gave Bardock a nod, they stood to follow Brolly, who was already marching down the mountain. Bardock watched as they departed, the shadows of their silhouettes blending into the trees. The mountaintop grew quiet as their light was reduced to only that of his and Seripa's dimly glowing scouters.

Once the others were out of earshot, Bardock turned to Seripa. "You should go, too. Keep a close eye on Brolly, Seripa."

"Bardock," Seripa said, placing a hand on Bardock's arm. "I've got a bad feeling about him."

"Me, too."

"Should I let Totapo know about this?"

Bardock sighed. "I'll do it."

He grimaced as thoughts of Totapo brought about thoughts of others in the castle. King Vegeta and Prince Vegeta were a problem, especially if Kakarot was still there. Bardock knew he went. He saw Kakarot in the castle in a vision, but in that vision, his son was unconscious in a tank, and he wasn't the only one. The woman in the tank next to Kakarot looked uncannily like Gine, but she couldn't be there. That vision would explain where Kakarot was now, but not who the woman healing beside his son was, or what relevance she played in all of this. Bardock knew it  _couldn't_  be Gine in the castle before this fight. Bardock had only caught a glimpse of her in the vision, anyway.

"Bardock," Seripa said, raising a brow when Bardock turned to face her. "What's the matter?"

Bardock scoffed. "I want to know where Kakarot is. And where the hell is Gine?"

Bardock turned his back toward Seripa, crossing his arms. Seripa could look to the north for elites on her own for a minute. At least one of them was able to completely focus their attention on the upcoming battle. Bardock had to appreciate the fact that he'd asked Totapo after their talk not to turn against the elites. Maybe someone could explain to him the mess that had become of Kakarot's mission.

He stepped away from Seripa, into the darkness, pressing a finger into his scouter. "Totapo."

* * *

"Bardock," Totapo greeted before enclosing himself in an empty room. "How goes it?"

_"How's Toma?"_

Totapo rolled his eyes and strolled deeper into the dim, silent room. The furnishings were covered with gold sheets - Totapo would be willing to bet the royal family forgot this room and everything in it existed. Totapo smiled as his right eye focused on the sheer red lens of his scouter.

"It's always straight to business with you, Bardock," he said. "When are you ever going to realize I'm your friend?"

_"There's no time for small talk, Totapo, and you know it."_

"Eh, you're right," Totapo groaned, his eyes shifting toward the door. "No point in getting my ass killed for spying for the ungrateful likes of  _you_. At least you trust me this much."

Bardock scoffed in his ear.  _"The day I trust any elite is the day I'm dead. I'm just using you, Totapo."_

Totapo smiled wryly. "Of course you are."

Bardock wasn't lying, but Totapo knew he didn't really mean what he said either. There was a level of trust and interdependence that came along with running on the same crew for so many years. Even if Bardock didn't want to admit it, the trust Totapo had gained would always remain between them. Speaking of which, now was a good moment to prove his resourcefulness.

"Toma's healing fine. Guarded like you wouldn't believe, but they're leaving him alone. What you'd probably be  _more_  interested in is the king's new guests."

_"Brolly and Paragus. But Brolly's no longer a guest in the castle."_

Totapo balked. "H-how did you...?"

 _"Let's just say I'm not as interested in them as you think,"_  Bardock said, his voice laced with amusement.  _"Totapo. I want to know who else is in the tanks. Have you seen anyone else enter the healing chamber?"_

Totapo scratched the bald top of his head. With that place so heavily guarded, it was a wonder anyone but the royal family and the medical staff could get near the entrance. He'd caught a glimpse of an unconscious woman being dragged in. Bardock would probably be pissed that he wasn't able to identify her. But Totapo was going to bring it up, because now Bardock had him curious as hell as to what led Bardock to know about her. Maybe it was another one of his visions.

"A woman. Didn't get a good look at her."

 _"Woman?"_  Bardock choked out.  _"What about a man?"_

"I'm telling you, I saw a woman dragged from the king's private chamber by a female servant. No man. She was covered in blood. Looked like she was dead."

Totapo waited. He could feel the tension on the other end as Bardock remained silent, making Totapo wonder if he'd done something wrong. He hadn't said anything that should've alarmed Bardock. Shadows ghosted across the crack of light beneath the door. Footsteps approached from the hall. Totapo couldn't talk much longer.

"Bardock!" Totapo hissed.

_"There-there was no man, then?"_

"Just Toma, far as I know," Totapo answered, narrowing his eyes at the suspiciously guarded tone to Bardock's voice. "Who did you expect to be in the tanks?"

Bardock cursed under his breath.  _"Kakarot. He never left the castle."_

"Kakarot?" Totapo's eyes bulged. "If he's been here, I haven't heard a word about it. He's probably dead. What the hell was your crazy son doing  _here_?"

 _"Following my orders,"_  Bardock answered curtly.

"Bardock!"

Before Totapo had a chance to ask more about Bardock's insane plan, more shadows graced the doorway before the knob turned with a squeak. Totapo pressed his finger against the scouter, ceasing communication as the orange lights cast by his scouter disappeared from the covered surfaces. A second later, the room was flooded with light from the hall as the door was thrown open by two elite guards.

"Totapo!" one of them said as Totapo squinted in an attempt to recognize their faces. "The King ordered us to move."

Totapo angled a glare at the others as he recognized Nappa and Arsnip. They didn't seem hostile. They couldn't have overheard him talking to Bardock. Still, Totapo clenched his fists. "Move?"

"Attack, you moron! We need to gather the men," Nappa said. "A scout found the third class rebellion camped in a mountain."

Arsnip flashed his teeth at Totapo. "We're going to put an end to this ridiculous resistance they've started."

Totapo gasped. "I thought we were waiting for the full moon!"

"Yeah," Nappa said. "That would've been fun."

"But the king doesn't want to wait," Arsnip said. "And I don't see any reason for it."

Totapo caught himself grimacing. A Saiyan grimacing in the face of battle was a very suspicious spectacle indeed. It wasn't lost on his company, whose jaws slowly fell.

Totapo cleared his throat. "That's disappointing. I was looking forward to the transformation."

Nappa laughed, sounding relieved as Totapo approached them. "We'll still transform at the full moon! Only now, we'll be  _celebrating_  our victory as Great Apes instead of fighting in the form."

After Nappa threw his wide arm over Totapo's broad shoulder, Arsnip cast a glance around the dark, isolated room. He wondered why they found Totapo  _here_ , of all places. The combination of this with Totapo's lack of thrill at the call of battle showcased the oddity of his recent behaviors. As Totapo and Nappa passed into the bright hallway, Arsnip followed, narrowing his eyes at Totapo's back.

There was only one factor Arsnip could think of which could've motivated Totapo to shift his loyalty from their king - that incident with his crew in the throne room. Perhaps Totapo was resentful over being uninformed about the proceeding, or even bitter about the death and injury of two of his third class team mates. As they passed the hall leading to the healing chambers, Arsnip clenched his jaw. Before flying off for war, there was one thing Arsnip had to do to ensure unity on their side. All elites had to remain loyal to King Vegeta, at any cost. He couldn't have Totapo going astray. Arsnip didn't care if Prince Vegeta had forbidden anyone's entrance to the healing chamber.

Someone in there needed to die.

 


	12. Lucky To Be Alive

As a barrage of footsteps stormed the halls of the castle, Arsnip ducked his head into a niche. The flurry of elite forces assembling for the attack on the mountains was the perfect distraction. Arsnip could use this to get to the healing chamber.

He darted out of his niche, only to be pushed back in. Arsnip did a double-take of the man who pushed him running faster than the rest of the crowd. It was Prince Vegeta, looking almost angry about this upcoming battle. But that couldn't be right. Arsnip shook off his thoughts with a smirk. Their prince wouldn't be smiling until he was hurting people. A typical Vegeta. The king's announcement about the attack had only sounded through the castle minutes ago. The prince would have to be patient. The killing would come.

Arsnip was the lucky one. He could begin  _now_. Turning to the healing chamber again, he rushed forward. There was a guard manning the chamber, but the young Saiyan was so distracted by the excitement in the castle that he didn't even notice as Arsnip slipped past him.

Vegeta planted his boots in the hard tiles and raised his chin sharply. He didn't know why exactly he brought his run to a sudden halt. Something told him to stop. He turned. His eyes went wide as he caught sight of a figure dashing through the door of the healing chamber, right past the oblivious guard. As other soldiers ran past him, the crowds of elites coming in waves to fight for their king, Vegeta growled his frustration.

Those third and second class idiots on the mountain were going to die. But it seemed someone in the healing chamber was dying sooner. Vegeta had strictly forbidden entrance to that chamber. Whoever dared to disobey his orders was going to pay the ultimate price. That soldier would see Kakarot healing within the castle walls. That was information he wasn't willing to share with anybody.

Clenching his fists by his sides, Vegeta pushed through the swell of the crowd in the tight hall, ignoring the bewildered looks he was getting from his people. The ones who gawked long enough received a glare in response, which was Vegeta's quick way of telling them to move on and mind their own business. This detour to the healing chambers was wasting Vegeta's valuable time as it was. His father had no one to talk sense into him now. No one could stop the king from destroying his own rule.

Vegeta dreaded losing his inheritance of the throne. But if he allowed this war to happen, it was inevitable. The population would be reduced to something too minuscule to require a ruler, Brolly would manage to turn Planet Vegeta against the current rulers in the aftermath, or this idiot who'd illegally entered the healing chamber would blab to the people how their prince was harboring and protecting a third class Saiyan in his father's castle, further spreading  _that_ gossip. He had no hopes of ruling this planet if he didn't prevent two mistakes from happening at once.

Wait. Vegeta's finger flew to the button at his scouter. This was why he had people to do his bidding. Not that his father would listen to anyone that wasn't his son, but this was worth a shot, if only to buy some time. As Vegeta reached the healing chamber door and waved the guard away from his post, Nappa's voice answered his call.

* * *

 

"Prince Vegeta!" Nappa said, a grin forming on his face. "Ready to take out the trash?"

_"No."_

"Wha-?"

_"This is a mistake. Tell my father to call off the attack."_

"What?" Nappa gasped. "You know I can't do that! King Vegeta will kill me!"

Nappa gulped and looked around the battle line forming around him. Elites were arriving in flocks to follow their king into battle. They were heated, lusting for battle. Vegeta had gone silent, but Nappa knew the prince was still there. This silence was normal for Prince Vegeta. But the king. The king would truly kill Nappa if Nappa tried to convince him of the need to end this attack, and no one around here would come to Nappa's defense. Nappa didn't want to test their patience. Unfortunately, if he survived this war, he didn't want to face Prince Vegeta's wrath for testing  _his_ patience.

"I-I can tell him  _you_  said to call off the attack," Nappa said with a deep breath. "Yeah. He won't kill the messenger."

 _"Your intelligence never ceases to amaze me, Nappa,"_  Vegeta said before the call cut off.

Nappa shook his head. His gaze panned over the hundred or so faces set in anticipatory glares. At the head of the line, he found the king. Nappa knew how important it had become to King Vegeta to put those third class scumbags in their places. He just didn't understand why  _Prince_  Vegeta felt differently about it. And now he had to present the case to the king. Nappa growled and balled his gloved fists. This  _better_  not be about Kakarot. Nappa thought the prince had moved on from that waste of time.

He flew forward, waving away the few soldiers who moved as if to approach him. "King Vegeta!"

The king was having a discussion with Zorn, likely formulating a strategy. Their king was good at that. And seeing that the third class had somehow roped the second class into all of this, who were gathered up on that advantageous mountaintop with them, a strategy was necessary. At least, that was what the king said. And Nappa wouldn't question him, even if he wanted to go in with brute strength. Unfortunately, Nappa realized with a grimace, he was questioning the king right now, simply by relaying Prince Vegeta's message.

"Nappa," the king said absently as Nappa landed by his side. "Are the elites ready to fight?"

Nappa instinctively chuckled, before frowning. "They're  _always_  ready for a fight, your highness."

"Good." King Vegeta turned from the mountain camp layout Zorn was showing him to Nappa. The unusually serious look on his guard's face startled him. "Nappa?"

"Prince Vegeta wants me to relay a message," Nappa said carefully.

"Vegeta?" King Vegeta snorted, glanced around, and set his gaze on Nappa again. "Where is he?"

"At the castle."

"What?" King Vegeta snapped. "Why isn't he here? Doesn't he want to defend his position? He  _jumps_  at the chance to kill. I figured he'd be the first one ready to initiate the attack."

"He said no."

Vegeta's brows furrowed. He cocked his head at Nappa's despondent frown. "No?"

"His message," Nappa said, licking his dry lips. "He wants you to…call it off."

Vegeta was speechless. Those last words Nappa said were quiet, but not quiet enough he hadn't heard them. He just hadn't  _understood_  them. What did Vegeta want him to call off? Because he couldn't mean the attack. He had to mean something else. Vegeta's gaze shifted to a group of elites preparing for battle, narrowing in on Paragus.

"Oh!" Vegeta laughed. "He wants me to call off sending Brolly in."

"No, that's no-"

"Brolly can't be sent in, King Vegeta," Zorn interrupted.

"What?" Vegeta whirled on Zorn as his face flushed with heat. "Don't tell me he and Paragus backed out of our deal."

"Paragus is all for it, your highness," Zorn said with a gesture toward Paragus, who looked just as frustrated as King Vegeta felt. "It's Brolly. He's gone."

Vegeta felt his temple throbbing, the pressure building up. He pinched the bridge of his nose to prevent himself from firing on all his men, as he was tempted to do.

He turned impatient eyes on Nappa. "And  _why_  isn't Prince Vegeta here?"

"M-maybe," Nappa said before taking a step back, "you should ask him yourself. He really didn't make it clear to me."

"What  _exactly_ did he tell you, Nappa?"

"He told me," Nappa said with a gulp. "To tell you to call off the attack."

King Vegeta felt like a volcano on the brink of eruption. He sunk his teeth into his bottom lip as he looked left, then right, seeking anyone to blame for this. Someone had to pay for his frustration. He was the king! He needed to get what he wanted! And the two most powerful allies on his planet, one of which was his own son and heir, were turning against him in this battle. They'd better not be planning to fight for the other side!

With a scream, he thrust his hand toward a crowd of disposable elites lazing about behind the lines of more eager soldiers. Screams erupted from that vicinity as his fiery blast closed in on them, but there was nothing they could do. Some tried to dive out of its path, but none of them were fast enough. As the screams died down, the explosion rumbled, interrupting all conversation around the area. King Vegeta bared his teeth at his audience, who were quick to turn away and resume what they were doing.

"King Vegeta," Nappa said hesitantly. "How do you wish to proceed?"

King Vegeta set his glare on the ground. Their chances of a sure win had diminished. He could only hope Brolly wasn't on the side of the trash waiting for them on that mountain. Though his son resisted this fight, the king was willing to bet his son wouldn't dare to fight  _against_ him. He wouldn't fight against his own predecessor. King Vegeta had to take a gamble on Vegeta's arrival. He couldn't just walk away now, not after this had begun. He wished he knew why his son wanted to stop this. The loss of a few unworthy subjects couldn't be enough to stop him. He had to see what a threat these third class Saiyans posed. By gaining in power as rapidly as they'd been recently, they could offset the entire balance of Saiyan society. They were a threat that needed to be snuffed. Then they could turn their attention to the larger scheme of things and finally revolt against Frieza, as a united group of impenetrable elites. His son had to see that. His elite followers had to see that.

King Vegeta met Nappa's gaze. "We attack in an hour. Inform the men."

* * *

 

As he slid through the door, into the bright and pristine healing chamber, Vegeta decided he needed to be quick about this. Nappa's message would only delay the attack, at best. He knew his father. The man wasn't going to back down from a fight. He likely wouldn't have even done so if Vegeta was there himself to tell his father what a fool he was being.

Steady, life-proving beeps rang through the room. Machines whirred and hummed. His footsteps as well as distant footsteps echoed off the tiles. Across the room, Vegeta spotted movement beyond that of the warped bubbles floating from the masked mouths of the tanks' inhabitants. He counted three empty chambers, three inhabited. And someone was standing in front of the third one.

Vegeta clenched his jaw, determined to make his move on the intruder, until he glimpsed a flashing control panel at his hip. A tablet was set beside the controls, reporting heart rates and percentages, likely to monitor those Saiyans healing in the tanks. Vegeta grunted. The technician monitoring them had to be around somewhere. He could be the man Vegeta was preparing to attack, but if so, it was bad luck for him. Vegeta might need to hire a new technician into his confidence when this was over.

With the press of a few buttons, Vegeta quieted the machines before a hiss filled the room. Vegeta looked up to admire the results of his action as the Saiyan DNA-infused liquid slowly drained from the tanks. Kakarot's spikes of hair shot over the water line, standing out among the other silhouettes in the tanks. He was still in there. Still safe. And soon he would be out.

Vegeta was willing to bet this man he now saw glaring into the third occupied tank was the intruder. Watching the soldier's hand slowly rise to extend toward the smooth front of the tank, Vegeta decided it was time to act.

Vegeta bolted. He was in the intruder's face by the time the light of ki in the warrior's palm began to flicker. As their eyes met, it extinguished.

Vegeta grinned. "What are  _you_  doing?"

Arsnip's eyes bulged as he stumbled away from Vegeta and the tank, his eyes going wide. "Pr-Prince Vegeta!"

"I  _said_ ," Vegeta repeated as he stepped forward, "what are you doing disobeying my orders?"

Arsnip's eyes darted past Vegeta before meeting Vegeta's gaze. "My Prince! Shouldn't you be...heading to the battle?"

"We  _both_  should be," Vegeta said. "But thanks to you, I'm here protecting these weak, injured fools."

Vegeta's brows furrowed as he felt the urge to glance over his shoulder, wondering who exactly he was protecting here. The only one he cared about was Kakarot. But he was inadvertently protecting these other two out of his need to hide his motives from Arsnip. Vegeta's brows furrowed again as he turned his eyes on the impassive face and Arsnip's vulnerable position. As realization dawned on Vegeta and pulled his lips into a smile, Arsnip's brows drew together. His lips curled down. His cheeks began to quiver. Vegeta laughed.

Arsnip shook his head. The prince was going to kill him! He hadn't even done what he came here for yet. He hadn't killed Toma, but he was going to die all the same. Arsnip knew that look. No one but Lord Frieza and the king could frighten Arsnip more than Prince Vegeta. That sadistic gleam in his royal eyes was all for Arsnip. He was sorry to ever be on the receiving end of it.

"Please, Prince Vegeta! No!" Arsnip said as he stumbled back.

He smashed his heel against something which sent vibrations up his leg and a clatter through the vast room before it crashed to the ground behind him. Vegeta continued forward. Arsnip quivered as he staggered, before falling and landing hard on the fallen metal table behind him. He screamed at the pain of sharp metal tearing into his back and crushing his tail, but he didn't dare take his eyes off the prince to assess the damage. At the sight of movement past the prince's sinister smile, Arnsip gasped. He shot his gaze in that direction to see the curved glass of the tanks rising as the remaining liquid rushed to the ground. The Saiyans inside were slowly rising.

"No." Arnsip shook his head, licked his lips, and looked toward Toma.

He couldn't see Toma. Not with Vegeta blocking his view. The prince either hadn't noticed their company or was indifferent to their presence, which wouldn't surprise Arnsip. They were all third class and a waste of good air, not worthy of the Prince of Vegeta's recognition. But why the prince had come here in the first place to defend them, why their faces had been kept secret -  _that_  to Arsnip was a mystery.

"Prince Vegeta, they're third class!" Arnsip screamed, though he knew it was in vain. "We have to kill them!"

Vegeta raised his hand, his arm rigid and powerful as the open palm of his white glove was shoved in Arnsip's face. "They're the reason I have to kill you."

"Me?"

"No one can know I saved Kakarot's pathetic life," Vegeta said as his brows narrowed and his lips pulled back to reveal his teeth. "That would get in the way of my rule. You  _do_  wish my success in inheriting the throne from my father, don't you, Arsnip?"

Arnsip nodded fervently, his heart pounding in his chest as he glimpsed a sliver of hope. "Yes! Of course I do, Prince Vegeta! You will be the next great ruler of Planet Vegeta!"

Vegeta smiled, allowing Arsnip to breathe a sigh of relief. "It's so good to hear you say that. Goodbye, Arsnip."

"Wha-?" Arsnip shot upright as his vision filled with blinding light. "No!"

The explosion shook the room. The light ebbed and brightened, ebbed and brightened, until the room darkened to its natural state once again. As the ringing in his ears subsided, Vegeta stared at the blackened spot where Arsnip's body had withered to ash.

"That's no fair!"

At the familiar whine, Vegeta turned. "Kakarot?"

Kakarot stepped forward, shedding viscous liquid from his naked body with every step. "Why'd you kill Arsnip?"

Vegeta crossed his arms, satisfied not only by his accomplishment, but the exquisite spectacle he was absorbing without an ounce of shame. Kakarot's skin was flawless from the power of the DNA-infused liquid, the shimmer of which beautifully accentuated the way his muscles rippled as he moved. Vegeta briefly recalled that recent bout in the throne room. Until Kakarot spoke again.

"Do you know how many years I've waited to kill that bastard?" Kakarot continued, his facial features contorting in annoyance. "He's been threatening to kill me on every purge, but I always knew I would kill him first."

"Don't be a sore loser, Kakarot," Vegeta said.

Vegeta opened his mouth for another quip, but swallowed his words when movement caught his eye. He'd forgotten their audience. The other two Saiyans were just as naked as Kakarot, but with completely different figures. For one, the stunned, petite female was  _much_  different. And the male was taller, square-jawed, with shorter hair - not nearly as handsome as Kakarot. As Vegeta balled his fists, Kakarot grunted, followed Vegeta's gaze, and gasped. Whoever those two were, they were in Vegeta's way.

"Mom?" Kakarot cried.

Vegeta retracted the fist he was extending toward the gaping woman and looked at Kakarot, disbelief most likely coloring his features. He  _couldn't_  have heard Kakarot right.

"Kakarot!" Gine breathed.

She peeled her wide eyes from the floor to look at Kakarot's hesitant smile. It really was her son. She really was here -  _alive_. Gine paled as she pressed a hand to her chest, the gaping hole left by King Vegeta now somehow replaced by a light scar. There was no way King Vegeta was behind her treatment in the healing chamber. It was obvious he'd wanted her dead. But somehow, he failed. Gine beamed. She felt stronger than ever. She looked her son up and down, her eyes going wide when she took in an eyeful of his fully exposed body. She quickly fixed her gaze on the tiles at her bare feet with a grimace.

Kakarot shook his head rapidly, the liquid spraying from his spikes of hair and puddling around him on the floor as he did so. He just couldn't wrap his mind around this. His mother was in the castle. She was healing here, which meant she had been hurt and someone went out of their way to heal her  _here_ , of all places. This made no sense.

As Gine's eyes flitted to Kakarot, she had to press a cool hand to her burning cheek. Kakarot looked much too much like his father. Usually, she could be comfortable like this - all Saiyans were used to nudity with transformations, injuries on the battlefield, and these healing tanks. But seeing her son's body and thinking of Bardock was beyond unsettling. Gine shivered.

"Gine," said a gruff voice behind them. "What the  _hell_  are you doing here?"

Gine whirled around. "Toma?"

"Hey, Toma," Kakarot said with a curt wave.

Vegeta grit his teeth, watching the casual exchanges. All smiling faces and healed bodies, those three seemed to be in their own world, oblivious to what was about to happen outside the castle. Even oblivious to who was standing right in front of them.

"Idiots!" Vegeta yelled, baring his teeth when their gazes snapped his way. "Don't you all feel lucky to be alive right now? You  _should_ , because you really should be dead."

 


	13. Before We Join the Battle

"Vegeta!" Kakarot chided.

"You shut up!" Vegeta said as he shook a fist in Kakarot's direction.  "This is all your fault!"

"Prince Vege-" started Toma.

"You!” Vegeta shouted.  “You're part of Totapo's purge team.  It was you and Bardock who started this whole mess, wasn't it?"

Toma raised his brows.  "I'm flattered to even be  _considered_  as part of the problem by your highness."

"And you!" Vegeta snapped, ignoring Toma’s tone and turning to Gine.  His brows furrowed when he couldn't decide what to yell at her about.  She stared back, waiting patiently until the most honest question fell from Vegeta's lips.  "What  _are_ you doing here?"

Gine's eyes flew to Kakarot's before her cheeks tinged pink, darted to Toma’s as she grimaced, and landed on Vegeta’s when she finally schooled her features.  "I'm sorry, Prince Vegeta.  I can't tell you that."

"Mom," Kakarot exhaled her name and stepped forward.  "Who hurt you?"

Gine shook her head.  "Kakarot..."

"Who  _hurt_  you?" 

"Knock it off, Kakarot," Vegeta said.

Kakarot turned a glare on Vegeta.  When he met the prince's gaze, it occurred to him that he didn't know Vegeta's motives for being here.  Arsnip was clearly here for the kill, but Vegeta was here to stop him.  It seemed like Vegeta followed Arsnip to save Kakarot, but maybe he only did it to protect their secret.  Kakarot knew he couldn't trust Vegeta, regardless of how much he wanted to.  If hiding the shame of loving Kakarot was so important to him, Vegeta was a threat to both Gine and Toma.  Kakarot wasn't about to let Vegeta do anything to either one of them, if he hadn't already.

Kakarot narrowed his eyes.  "Was it you, Vegeta?"

As the woman scoffed and that other third class soldier narrowed his eyes at Vegeta, a growl ripped from Vegeta's throat.  "I didn't even know this woman was your mother until  _you_  said so!  And when would I have had the time to attack her?  You  _know_  I was-" Vegeta bit his tongue, though he really couldn't stand the suspicious look in Kakarot's puppy-dog eyes.  Vegeta shook his head.  "Ah, fuck it.  They're going to die anyway.   _You_ know I was with you!  Why do you always have to act like such a moron?"

Kakarot balked.  "What do you mean 'they're going to die, anyway'?"

Gine's eyes went wide.  Her heart hammered in her chest as she looked to Toma, who met her gaze with equal alarm in his eyes.  The prince wasn't predicting their  _eventual_  deaths.  Gine knew how debasing the royal family thought it was for elites to fraternize with the third class.  Prince Vegeta would kill anyone to protect his pride and hide this shameful association from the rest of the elites - even if he had to kill his lover's mother, right in front of his eyes.

Vegeta chuckled and raised his arm slowly.  "See?  There you go again, Kakarot.  Always ignoring what's right in front of you."

"Vegeta!" Kakarot sprang toward Vegeta as a light of ki gathered in the prince’s palm.

Gine screamed and jumped aside to avoid the blast that was already shooting across the room.  A high-pitched note pierced the room as glass shattered, before a blast swallowed that noise. Sharp shards from the broken tank rained down on Gine's bare back and the tiles at her feet.  

Toma's arm snaked across her back.  "You okay?"

"Y-yeah," Gine said, snapping her gaze over her shoulder to get a look at Toma.  "You hit?"

Toma shook his head, a grim frown crossing his face before he looked up.  Vegeta.  Gine scrambled to her feet.  Kakarot was wrestling with Vegeta, trying to hold the prince back.  Vegeta wasn’t giving in.  His eyes were fixed on Gine and Toma, even as he ate a punch from Kakarot.  His  _eyes_ never moved, but his hands did.  Before Vegeta could fire another blast, Kakarot threw Vegeta to the ground.

"You two get out of here!" Kakarot yelled.

Vegeta threw his arms around Kakarot's legs and tugged him to the ground.  That bastard was not going to send those two away!  

"Kakarot!" Gine called, wincing as her son hit the ground.  "Don't you dare get yourself killed!"

Vegeta furiously shook his head.  They  _couldn't_  leave that chamber and tell people what they'd witnessed here.  Kicking Kakarot off his leg, Vegeta pressed forward.  The third class scum scrambled for the door, grabbing armor on their way. Vegeta's body lurched forward when his legs swept out from under him.  Catching himself before his face hit the ground, Vegeta glowered at the culprit.  Kakarot was laying next to him, a shit-eating grin on his face. The chamber door clicked.  Vegeta growled and lunged for Kakarot.  He intended to strangle the bastard, but Kakarot pried Vegeta's hands off his neck like it was nothing.  Vegeta felt his head hit the hard tile floor as Kakarot pushed him.  When Vegeta tried to sit up, weight settled over his hips.  Vegeta gasped.  He could feel through the thin elastic of his pants Kakarot's bare ass pressing against his cock.  He stifled a moan at the distracting contact.

Kakarot took Vegeta's moment of hesitation to punch him in the jaw.  He grinned when Vegeta's head snapped to the side.  As he looked up at the closed chamber door to see that Toma and his mother were safe from Vegeta, he raised his fist for his next punch.  But hesitated.  The look on Vegeta's bloody face had something more to it than bloodlust.

Vegeta bared his teeth and punched Kakarot in the face.  It wasn't his best punch at the compromised angle, but it was enough to knock Kakarot off of him.  Vegeta pressed up on his elbows as Kakarot cried out.

"Dammit, Vegeta!"

"Dammit, you cocksucker!" Vegeta raged as he scrambled to pin Kakarot to the ground.  "You let them get away!"

"I know!" Kakarot groaned, shooting Vegeta a glare as the prince pinned his arms to the floor.  " _That_  was the idea."

Vegeta rocked over Kakarot, tightening his grip around Kakarot's taut wrists as he watched satisfaction cross his lover's face.  Vegeta was  _far_  from satisfied.  He was ruined if those two spoke a word to anyone.  The throne would never be his.  He could still go after them, but for all he knew, it could already be too late to keep their mouths shut.  And it wasn't like Kakarot was going to step aside and  _let_  him.  The bastard had gotten stronger after the healing tanks and was stubborn as hell when it came to things like this.  As much as that fueled Vegeta's rage, it was also what Vegeta admired about Kakarot.  No one else ever stood up to Vegeta the way he did.  

Letting his gaze shift from Kakarot's sweaty face to his dewy, sinewy chest was a mistake.  Vegeta had his lover naked, riled up, and pinned beneath him with no one around to disturb them.  Vegeta's eyes spanned across Kakarot's chest as he let his tail unfurl from his waist and slide down Kakarot's inner thigh.  He was proud to see the act elicit a shiver from Kakarot.  He wanted to sink his teeth into those firm pink nipples.  He wanted to feel Kakarot harden beneath him.

"You're never going to kill them, Vegeta," Kakarot said.  "I won't let you."

Vegeta growled as he watched Kakarot's brows narrow.  The idiot had no idea what was going through his prince's mind.  He was probably misreading the flush in his cheeks as Vegeta's anger, the tightening of his grip as Vegeta's expression of dominance, the glimmer in his eyes as Vegeta's lust for pain.  In some regard, that was all true, but wrong all the same.

When Kakarot growled and struggled beneath him, exerting power that Vegeta could hardly fight, Vegeta screamed his exertion of holding Kakarot in place.  Somehow, Kakarot overpowered him.  It knocked him on his back, forcing the air from his lungs.  Vegeta wheezed as Kakarot's hand closed around his throat.

Kakarot  _squeezed_.  In his grip, Vegeta's throat pulsed with the surging adrenaline coursing through his body.  He probably couldn't wait to get away from Kakarot to murder those two.  Just for witnessing a relationship that was something special to Kakarot.  It  _should've_  been something special to Vegeta, too.  Kakarot was sick of being rejected by the proud asshole who tried his damnedest, but couldn't hide his feelings or desire for him.  Even now, in the heat of struggle, Kakarot could feel Vegeta's rock hard cock pressing against the cleft of his ass.  He could see the lustful haze in the prince's eyes, even as they rolled back in his head from lack of oxygen.  Kakarot couldn't hear Vegeta breathing anymore - his strength was weakening.  

Kakarot tightened his grip.  He wasn't going to give in now.  Vegeta would only take advantage of his weak moment if he relented.  Vegeta always loved to mock Kakarot about that.  But not this time.  Spit guised from Vegeta's lips as his back arched with the struggle for air.  The thrust of his hips under Kakarot's naked pelvis sent a chill through Kakarot's balls which traveled through his tail and up his spine.  He shivered as his grip loosened.  He wished Vegeta wouldn't turn him on while he was trying to kill him.  

Kakarot narrowed his brows, focusing on Vegeta's face to watch for the moment when it would be over.  His eyes quickly fell on the shine of Vegeta's plump bottom lip.  It was red and fattened from Kakarot's most recent punch, gleaming and heaving as it began to turn a beautiful shade of purple.  Kakarot licked his lips.  If only...

"Ka..."

Kakarot tensed as Vegeta's Adam's apple rolled beneath his fingers.  He wanted to hear what Vegeta had to say.  If it was the last thing Vegeta thought he would ever say, it could be important.  Against all likelihood, Kakarot hoped it would be a final confession that he did indeed love Kakarot.  He loosened his grip.  But he didn't dare let go.

"You..." Vegeta choked.

Kakarot waited a beat, but Vegeta's body relaxed, sagging to the ground as the struggle ended.  No!  He needed to hear what Vegeta would say.  He needed his prince breathing so he could taste those gorgeous bloody lips again.  

"Vegeta!" Kakarot cried.

Kakarot threw himself over Vegeta, wrapped his arms around his back, pulled him into his chest.  He squeezed the limp body, hoping for a response.  When a gasp sounded in his ear, Kakarot grinned.  He should've known Vegeta wouldn't die that easily.

Then his head was practically knocked off his shoulders.  Kakarot's hands flew to his pounding head as he was knocked to the ground.

"What - the  _hell_ ," Vegeta rasped between fits of coughs, "is wrong - with you?  If you're going - to kill me -  _kill_  me!"

"Shit, Vegeta," Kakarot said as he rubbed his swelling head and winced.  "I don't  _want_  you dead."

"Then what  _do_  you want?"

Kakarot's eyes bulged at Vegeta's silky tone.  He was echoing back Kakarot's own words that Kakarot used when he wanted...

"Vegeta?"

Vegeta smirked.  "You know you were never going to kill me, Kakarot, even if I am going to join my elites in this fight.  You can't do it.  Pathetic."

Kakarot wasn't hearing the words rolling off Vegeta's tongue.  His eyes were focused on that arrogant smirk.  The room was filling with the distracting scent of arousal.  Kakarot's beating heart and the goosebumps prickling at his flesh were all he could feel - until soft fur grazed his hard cock.

Kakarot clenched his teeth to stifle a moan.  Vegeta did that on purpose.  He never played fair.

"Dammit, Vegeta," Kakarot groaned as he reached for Vegeta.  

He grabbed the shoulder of Vegeta's armor.  Tore it off his chest.  Blocked the punch Vegeta threw his way.  Let Vegeta crash into his arms as his armor fell to the wayside with a bang.  Crashed his lips against Vegeta's as Vegeta's wrist fell limp in his grasp.

Vegeta grunted into Kakarot's mouth.  The kiss was welcome, but unexpected.  He should've known to expect Kakarot to move too fast.  But as Kakarot's succulent lips caressed his and a warm tongue swept across his teeth, Vegeta couldn't argue.  But he could get in one last hit for good measure. Vegeta aimed a punch for Kakarot's gut.  He grunted when his fist made the unsatisfying impact with Kakarot's ready hand.

"Stop," Kakarot murmured.

As Kakarot's teeth nibbled his bottom lip, Vegeta groaned and rolled his eyes.  Kakarot's hands were already at his waist, working the tight elastic down his hips.  Vegeta inhaled sharply as Kakarot slid the stretchy pants to Vegeta’s thighs and pressed his silky, rigid cock against Vegeta's.  The air felt so thick around him as heat radiated off Kakarot's sinewy body.

Kakarot trailed his lips from Vegeta's mouth to his jawline.  When he reached Vegeta's sweet spot, he concentrated on it, sucking at the junction just below his jaw.  As expected, Vegeta melted into him.

"Kakarot..."

A smile spread across Kakarot's face before he worked his tongue across the area, further tormenting his eager lover.

Vegeta shivered.  "Do it."

With a triumphant grunt, Kakarot peeled his lips from Vegeta's neck and pushed him away.  The prince fell onto his hands and knees willingly.  Kakarot kneeled behind him, unperturbed by the hard and cold of the tiled floor on his knees when his body pressed against Prince Vegeta's bare flesh.

Kakarot slid a hand up the prince's thigh, reveling in the swaying of the prince's beautiful tail, the trembling of his body beneath Kakarot's fingers, and the panting breath sounding from his mouth.  As Kakarot squeezed the exquisite curve of tight ass muscle in his palm, he hissed in anticipation.

"Vegeta, you need to relax," Kakarot whispered.

"I  _know_  what to do," Vegeta snapped.  "Stop stalling and fuck me!"

Kakarot chuckled and positioned himself between the prince's legs.  "If you say so, your highness."

The warm pressure swallowing Kakarot's cock was so enrapturing that he had to stop at the tip.  His eyes rolling back in his head, he pressed forward again only when Vegeta's grunt of discomfort changed to one of clear disapproval.  He had to give the prince what he wanted.  With a trembling breath, Kakarot pressed forward again until he was fully sheathed in Vegeta's tight heat.

"Fffffuck," Kakarot breathed.

Vegeta moaned in agreement, though a hint of agony crept out in that moan.  It had been a long time since he'd been on the receiving end.  But this was what he got for pressing Kakarot to hurry. Kakarot withdrew and rocked forward. Again.  Slowly. Eventually, the burning pain of being stretched yielded to the pleasurable sensation of his insides being stroked and pressed against by Kakarot's hard cock. Kakarot's movements were just slow enough to allow that sensation to build, while fast enough to keep from testing Vegeta's patience.  And the way he moved his hips always seemed to hit the perfect spot that made Vegeta want to cry in delight - but he wouldn't dare do that in this public room.  Instead, he bit the inside of his cheek and listened to Kakarot's enticing murmurs and moans while being fucked harder and harder.

When Kakarot pressed his weight upon Vegeta's lower back, stroking Vegeta's tail in the process of reaching around to fist Vegeta's neglected, sensitive cock, Vegeta couldn't stifle the moan any longer.  His long-awaited utterance of sound seemed to be Kakarot's undoing.  Kakarot pressed in so hard and deep that Vegeta had to press back to keep from getting knocked over.

Kakarot couldn't help himself.  It felt so good now, with Vegeta mewling in ecstasy, that every stroke seemed better and better.  As he picked up speed, thrusting towards his peak, Kakarot grit his teeth.  Beads of sweat were trailing down his face and body.  The room felt like a sauna.  But the wet slaps of his pelvis hitting Vegeta's backside again and again drove him on.  Kakarot shuddered as he felt his release coming.

"Vegeta, I'm-"

Vegeta growled deeply in response.  He was about to cum too, and the anticipation of Kakarot shooting a load inside him while quivering from the effects his prince had on him only made Vegeta more ready for it.  Unfortunately, Kakarot had that same power over him.

As one last stroke sent him over the edge, Kakarot released a guttural growl.  His vision went white, his body tensed, and in that instant as Vegeta did the same, he could feel Vegeta let his guard down.  The man who never made himself vulnerable, even in the heat of passion, had finally let the walls down for Kakarot. That only made this all the better.

As he collapsed with Kakarot, letting his face hit the cold tile like it was a lofty pillow, Vegeta exhaled.  He closed his eyes.  He was safe in Kakarot's arms.  He hated knowing that.  Yet somehow, he felt secure enough that even if someone waltzed into the chamber right this minute and found them in this compromising position, he couldn't imagine the problems that would arise from it. That was the effect Kakarot had on him.

Kakarot tightened his arms around Vegeta, letting his fingers graze the cleft between his pecs, petting him gently.  He closed his eyes.  He could sleep right now.  The cold floor didn't even bother him.

"I hate you," Vegeta mumbled.

Kakarot smiled.  "I know."

Vegeta opened his eyes.  Kakarot clearly knew what he meant with those words, even if he'd said the opposite.  Heat rushed to his face with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.  Kakarot couldn't even have the modesty to act surprised, or even say it back, or play dumb like he usually did?

"Vegeta."

Vegeta wiggled out of Kakarot's grasp and sprang to his feet before Kakarot could say another word.

As Vegeta pulled his pants on, Kakarot sat up with a gasp.  "Where are you going?"

"Idiot," Vegeta sneered, reaching for his discarded armor.  "Have you honestly forgotten?  There's no time to lay around!"

Kakarot scratched his head. "There's n -  _oh_!  The fight!"

"I'm surprised your feeble brain could remember the massive battle you've been trying to get me to fight on your side."

Kakarot narrowed his brows.  "How did you know...?  I never had the chance to ask you."

"Please."  Vegeta scoffed.  "You asked that freak when you'd clearly come to see me."

Kakarot rubbed his head.  "You figured that out, huh?"

"I put things together a little faster than you."

"So?"  Kakarot raised a brow.  "Are you?"

"What?"

"You  _know_  what.  Whose side are you on, Vegeta?"

Vegeta pulled his armor over his head.  Adjusted his gloves.  Looked at the destruction surrounding them in the healing chamber.  He knew Kakarot was waiting for an answer, but Vegeta wasn't ready to give it to him.  He found his boots near a pile of shattered glass beside the tank in which Kakarot had healed.

"You know what your father's doing is wrong, Vegeta," Kakarot pressed.  "I know you've been waiting to rule.  There won't be anything  _left_  worth ruling if you allow this to happen.  With more elites on our side-"

"You have other elites already?  You mean besides Brolly?"

Kakarot shuffled to his feet and found a rack of uniforms.  It was full of elite armor of gold and the royal navy blue, but it would have to do.

"Who else is on your side, Kakarot?"

"Totapo," Kakarot said as he stepped into a navy undersuit.  "The second class.  Possibly Paragus too, seeing that Brolly-"

"Let  _me_  deal with Brolly."

Kakarot snapped his wide-eyed gaze to Vegeta.  "He's on  _our_  side, Vegeta."

"Brolly is on Brolly's side.  Always has been.  He's just as likely to kill you as he is to kill me."

Kakarot shrugged.  "Maybe a little less likely to kill me."

Vegeta sneered.  "You make a hell of an argument for me to join you."

"Sorry," Kakarot said with a grimace.  "I just meant-"

"We'll talk about that later."

Vegeta strode towards the door and paused with his hand resting on the knob.  "Kakarot.  I'm going to rule this planet, and you're going to watch me.  Don't let any fools like Arsnip get in the way of that until then."

Kakarot quirked a smile.  "I'll stay alive for ya, Vegeta.  You do the same."

Vegeta scoffed as he walked out the door.  As he swung it closed, he heard it hit a thump of resistance.  Kakarot was right behind him.  Vegeta shook his head as he traveled down the hall, which was now calm and void of people aside from the few left guarding select doors in the castle.  Everyone was off to war.  A war in which Vegeta was stupidly thinking of fighting  _against_ the side which was supposed to be his.  

But the truth was, Kakarot was right.  If Vegeta joined this fight with his father, the planet would be lost.  If not to mass casualty, to Lord Frieza and his army which would gladly scavenge off the remnants of this stupid war.  Saiyans fighting Saiyans.  Vegeta scoffed.  What sort of example of Saiyan pride was this?  His father had lost his mind.  Vegeta glanced at Kakarot trailing behind him, inexplicably feeling himself smile at the sight of the grin forming on the idiot's face.  Maybe Vegeta had lost his mind, too.

"What are  _you_  smiling about?" Vegeta said.

"This is gonna be a good fight," Kakarot said as Vegeta picked up the pace.  "And with you on our side, I have no reason to hold back."

Vegeta smiled, in spite of himself.  "Yes, well.   _I_  won't, either."

 


	14. Visions of War

“Raditz,” Bardock said. He fixed his gaze on the moving line of silhouettes along the distant mountain horizon. “Be ready. This is it.”

Raditz grunted. His father was right. Raditz could see them all now, dressed for battle, their powers making his scouter beep more and more rapidly in his ear as more of them approached. 

“Raditz?” Leeka’s voice came from behind them, before she gasped and let out a low growl. “They’re here. King Vegeta’s really leading us into war.”

“I wasn’t kidding,” Raditz said with a tone of annoyance.

“No one  _thought_  you were kidding,” Leeka snapped. “I just-“

“Shut up, you two!” Bardock yelled, baring his teeth as he tried to read the numbers rapidly flashing across his scouter. He wanted a count of how many of them they would be facing, but the number seemed to keep growing. 

“None of you have anything to worry about.” Brolly’s voice moved toward them along with a crunch of footsteps from behind. “I’m going to take care of all of them, if I have to.”

“Aside from King Vegeta,” Leeka grumbled.

Raditz paid no mind to Leeka’s remark, but cast a suspicious look at Brolly reaching his side. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

Brolly turned a smile on Raditz. “No need to worry. I’ll take  _special_  care to look out for you, if you’d like.”

“Raditz! Leeka!” Bardock shouted as Leeka seized Raditz’s arm in a painful grip to lead him toward Bardock. “Get over here.”

Bardock squinted into the distance as he listened to the hasty footsteps of Raditz and Leeka arriving by his side, as well as the slow footsteps of Brolly following a few paces behind. He couldn’t give them a clear number. He knew on  _their_  side, they would be lucky to have a hundred warriors. His count of the elites was imprecise and hasty, but there was no doubt in his mind that they could have as many soldiers on their side. Since the fighters on the elite side possessed higher power levels than the Saiyans fighting for their lives on this side, this was a problem.

Raditz sighed, looking out again on the moving forms ready to pounce at them at any minute. “How many?”

“Never mind that,” Bardock snapped, rising to his feet. “Leeka, get the second class ready. Raditz, summon everyone from the camp! We can’t afford to let anyone hold back!”

With a firm nod, Leeka ran back to camp, brushing past Brolly. She  _meant_  to bump him harshly like that. Whether Brolly realized it or not,  _Raditz_  noticed, but he couldn’t afford to be amused by her possessiveness right now. He turned to his father.

Bardock frowned at him. “What do you think you’re doing? Get out there!”

“What about Kakarot?”

Bardock’s glare hardened, but Raditz recognized a flash of disappointment in his eyes before he masked his expression. “What  _about_  him?”

“You said,” Raditz said with his eyes narrowing, “that Kakarot would play an important part in this. How? By sitting around on his ass while  _we_  risk our lives?”

Bardock took a deep breath and turned his glare on Brolly while exhaling through his nostrils. Brolly frowned back at the older man and crossed his arms. It was curious, whatever happened to Kakarot since the time Brolly had last seen him. Brolly was still disappointed by Kakarot’s absence, feeling it even more now that the battle was about to begin. Brolly wanted to know what  _Bardock_  had to say about this important part Kakarot was meant to play. Judging by the way Bardock was looking back at him, Bardock could tell what Brolly was thinking, and he didn’t like it.

“I don’t know  _what_  your brother is doing or where he is,” Bardock growled at Raditz, his gaze still locked on Brolly. “But I do know nothing has changed about my visions. Wherever he is, it’s where he has to be right now. Besides,” he said as he turned to Raditz with a smirk, “do you really envy Kakarot right now, seeing the opportunity  _we_  have? Look at them.”

Raditz followed his father's gaze toward the crowd of elites rising into the air. His fists went up as his heart started racing. This was it. The fight was about to begin. Any second now, someone would fire the first blast. Vegeta’s sun was setting over the horizon behind the elites, disappearing from the sky and casting vivid shades of reds and oranges over the clouds, which faded to purple and eventual blackness the higher he looked. Raditz’s heart started pounding, the blood surging through his veins. This was going to be a beautiful battle. Not something to be missed. Bardock was right. Kakarot was the one missing out.

“Yes,” Brolly cackled, his voice rising as he grinned into the open air and clenched his fists by his sides.

Bardock met Raditz’s gaze and nodded behind him, before smiling and raising his fists. “Go tell everyone, Raditz. It’s time to have a little fun.”

Raditz turned, stopping when only a second after his back turned to the elites, the sky lit up with the rapid approach of a blast. He threw himself to the ground, planting his face in the dirt as the blast flew over him, narrowly missing Raditz and instead blowing off a chunk of the mountain peak yards ahead of him. Raditz chuckled and bit his lip, before launching himself off the ground. He spun to retaliate the blast. There was no need to tell the others anymore. They would be out shortly to enjoy this fight.

By the time Gine reached the battlefield with Toma, the near-entirety of the Saiyan race was invested in a bloody battle.  The sight of fists flying and ki blasts obliterating everything in their paths had her blood pumping, even when her mind knew what a devastating situation this was.  This was a sad day for the Saiyan race.  She took no pride in any part of this.  But her family was in there - at least most of it.  There was no way in hell she would stand aside idly and watch this happen.

"Gine," Toma said, his voice sounding choked.  "It's really happening.  The king's off his rocker."

Gine could only nod as she stared at the flashing sparks of ki and rapid movements happening from the distant mountains.  A thick lump was forming in her throat.  After everything she'd done to protect Kakarot's life, there was a chance her whole family could lose their lives today.

"We'd better get in there," Toma said as he clenched a fist in front of his face and his frown turned up.

"I've never been the best fighter, but I'll do my best."

"Stick close to me," Toma said before zooming forward in the air.

Toma grit his teeth, feeling a wash of relief when he felt Gine following him.  He was worried about the woman.  She used to be a member of their crew.  Toma knew how she fought.  Frankly, she wasn't cut out for this type of battle.  Bardock had to already be in the thick of it, preoccupied.  Toma's scouter was going off like crazy, indicating the power clashes happening all around.  There were a lot of high power levels out here.  Toma knew if he let anything happen to Gine after bringing her into the fray with him, it wouldn't matter if he survived the battle.  Bardock would have his head after.

"I see Bardock!" Gine said.

Toma squinted past a blazing white blast flashing across the multicolored skyline. The figures moving through the purple sky wore similar silhouettes, but no one had a look like Bardock.  Toma recognized the one Saiyan whose hair shot out in every direction.  Then he smirked.  His crew mate was kicking ass.

"All right!" Toma shouted as he blasted into the action.

Toma recalled with a flash of guilt that he’d left Gine behind him. He'd abandoned the responsibility of looking out for her the moment he landed alone in the midst of a war.  As a large fist flew at his face, Toma dodged and decided Gine was going to have to take care of herself, just like the rest of them.

With a yell, Toma kicked his leg around to strike an approach of energy alerted to him by his scouter.  It was coming from behind. The battle cry had given his attacker away as a female, but when his foot landed in her side and his eyes landed on her face, Toma realized she was a  _big_  woman in elite armor.  Her tail swayed behind her playfully before her fist came at him again, followed immediately by her other one.  Toma bounced back in the air to dodge both moves.  He could handle the elite who obviously wasn't taking him seriously, but her distraction was a problem.  He hadn't had a chance to process any of what was happening around him aside from the broad stroke view he caught from the distance.

"Toma!"

Toma grunted before gritting his teeth as he seized the woman's thick arm flying at his face again.  As he worked to heave her by the arm over his shoulder and turn his gaze toward Bardock's voice, Toma smirked.  It was good to be by Bardock's side in battle again.

Bardock grinned as his eyes locked on Toma's.  It was good to see his crew mate healed.  With all these elites coming at him, seeing an ally was always a relief.  Toma had made it out of the castle's healing tanks, and now there was a chance they might win this.  But Bardock had a bigger obstacle to deal with in order to keep Brolly fighting on their side.  His gaze snapped below, to where the king was engaged in a ground battle with a hoard of second class Saiyans getting their asses handed to them by the king.  
 

With Toma here to deal with the combatants attacking in the sky, Bardock dove to the ground.  He dodged a pair of second class Saiyans flying toward him.  They'd been thrown away by the king while another was being blasted into oblivion by the king's favorite ki attack.  Bardock shouted for the king's attention when he landed.  He wouldn't be intimidated by Vegeta.  The bastard might've been royalty, but he'd caused Bardock's family too much trouble over these past few years.  Bardock was too furious to be scared. He would make Vegeta pay for ever laying his hands on Gine.  

Especially if he killed her.  
 

"Bardock," the king said with a sneer.  "What are you doing in front of me?  Shouldn't you be up in the air, fighting people more at your level?"  
 

Bardock's gaze flicked to the darkening sky, where Toma was holding his own and Brolly was plowing through an entire crowd of elites trying to overpower him with their numbers.  "Why should I?  Toma and the rest of the guys have that covered - with  _Brolly's_  help."  
 

With a grunt, the king turned his eyes on the sky.  He thought Bardock had to be lying, but when he spied Brolly beating down his elites, he knew it to be true.  The bastard really had turned on him and followed through with fighting for the lower class. He intended to take Vegeta's throne, at Paragus' persuasion, no doubt.  Not to mention, that low class waste, Toma was there.  He had somehow survived Vegeta's blast in the throne room.  Vegeta didn't know why anyone had let that weakling leave the castle, unless he took advantage of the chaos and escaped just as this battle started.  
 

Vegeta turned a glare on Bardock.  "I suppose when you fail, your plan is for Brolly to come down here and fight me for my throne."  
 

"I  _won't_  fail.  I have no interest in ruling Planet Vegeta, but you're mine, Vegeta.  Brolly wants to see you humiliated before he steals your stupid chair."  
 

Vegeta chuckled darkly and raised his fists for a fight.  "And I thought I had something to worry about for a minute.  Being beaten by a third class like you  _would_  be humiliating, but it's not happening."  
 

"Really?" Bardock said with a raise of his chin. He grounded his feet and raised his hands to mirror Vegeta.  "So you have visions of the future now, too?  Because I thought I was the only one who already knows how this battle will end."  
 

Vegeta blinked.  "You had a vision?  About this?"  
 

Bardock gave a curt nod.  "And you don't see me looking worried, do you?"  
 

With a raging scream, Bardock flung himself toward the king.  From the sky above, he could've sworn he heard a cry of concern calling his name.  He shook it off as he set his glare on Vegeta and redirected his attack at the last second.  He knew the king would be ready with a counter to his telegraphed attack.  But this second one - as he appeared behind the king with a ki blast point blank against the king's armor - hit its target.  Bardock grinned.  The explosion of the blast hurtled pieces from the king's cracked armor across the rocky terrain and caused the king to cry with rage.  A blinding pain hit Bardock.  He doubled over, clutching his stomach as the king cackled and withdrew his fist from Bardock’s gut.  Looking up with a glare, Bardock forced himself to ignore the pain and nausea as he swung his fist at the king's smug face.  The king narrowly dodged it and returned another blow, his fist meeting Bardock's face with a flash of pain.  
 

"Bardock!"  Gine shouted her husband's name again, but it was no use.  
 

He couldn't hear her.  He hadn't seen her.  She could do nothing but watch him face the monumental,  _insane_  task of single-handedly taking down the most powerful Saiyan on the planet.  Maybe that assumption about the king's power wasn't true anymore, now that Brolly was here.  Hell, maybe it hadn't been true for a while, given the amount of third class Saiyans hiding their growing power.  Gine doubted that there could be  _that_ much of a difference.  They couldn't have gotten  _that_  powerful without notice.  But she could hope.

Raditz had been so involved in the fighting that he hadn’t noticed his father engaging in battle with the king. But now that he had, having caught a glimpse of their fight while kicking away a teenage elite boy trying to finish him with a lazy blast, Raditz couldn’t help but stop and stare while his teenaged opponent whirred through the air. He could hear and feel more opponents coming toward him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the rapid movements through the veneer of darkness happening down below.

“Dad!” Raditz shouted just as a fist hooked his jaw and practically knocked his head off his shoulders.

Raditz growled and turned on his attacker to return the favor with a punch right in the elite’s armored kidney. He put enough power in that punch to inflict some damage, but not enough. He was going to have to concentrate on himself for now. Still, even knowing that, the moment he had a chance, Raditz couldn’t help casting a furtive glance at the woman fighting a few feet away. He didn’t know it before this fight, but right now, he could feel it. He didn’t want anything happening to Leeka.

“What are you doing over there?” Raditz yelled when he caught sight of Leeka eating a punch from a large man. “Keep it together, Leeka!”

“Speak for yourself!” Leeka snapped as she spun around and blasted the large elite with ki which shot right through his gut and out his back, blazing white and sizzling through his insides and armor loud enough for Raditz to pick up on.

Raditz growled as he was forced to evade another fist flying rapidly toward his face. He lunged himself forward and punched the attacker while nailing another elite coming at him from behind with a rear kick to the gut. They seemed to be coming in from everywhere. And they weren’t letting up. Defeating these elites would be nearly impossible. After a third elite surprised Raditz from above, drop kicking him to the ground, Raditz felt the first course of fear surge through him as he soared down with the pull of Vegeta’s powerful gravity. After he crashed into the rocky soil, Raditz shook off his pain with a groan, struggled to right himself back on his feet, and looked out at the devastation of his surroundings in the paths of dozens of Saiyan-against-Saiyan fights occurring around him. This war could really be the end of the Saiyan race. It could be the end of  _him_ , if Kakarot didn’t come through with whatever he was supposed to do.  A roar sent his gaze to the sky above. Past Brolly, the source of the roar smothering the warriors around him in a blinding surge of ki that radiated from his massive body, Raditz could see a faint light in the darkened sky. That light, he realized after Brolly’s ki expanded, flickered, and subsided, was the first hint of the moon. The moon was rising now that the sun had set, and it would be full tonight.

Bardock inhaled sharply before spitting the gravel from his teeth that had embedded between the gaps after King Vegeta pounded him into the ground. His eyes were wide, but it was neither the gray gravel he saw, nor the shadows cast on them by the rapidly moving bodies engaged in battle above. It was a vision. Another vision, this one of catastrophic damage to this planet  _worse_ than what was happening now. Giant apes. The moon! Instinctively, before he could think better of it, Bardock turned his gaze over his bloody shoulder, up to the sky. There were too many bodies moving, too many blasts obscuring his vision for it to have its effect, but Bardock could see that it was up there, hanging like a threat. 

Bardock’s eyes clenched shut as a flash of pain tore through him. A pointed boot wedged into his gut, throwing him on his back. He coughed and writhed as he landed, the dry soil puffing up around him like a gray cloud. His nose wrinkled as the dirt scent tickled his nose. Footsteps thumped toward his face.

“This planet will move on from this war under  _my rule_ ,” King Vegeta said above him.

Bardock wheezed, trying to ignore the battle pains coursing through his body. “This planet will be nothing more than a toy for Lord Frieza to toss away when he’s done with it, if we’re tearing each other apart without  _his_  help.”

“The Saiyan race isn’t tearing itself apart,” Vegeta said, his eyes narrowing as he looked down on the pathetic, struggling third class Saiyan. “Merely pruning away the rot.”

“Vegeta!” screamed a voice from above.

Vegeta gasped and whirled. That voice – it couldn’t be her. He-he killed her!

“Gine?” Vegeta asked, his eyes bulging as they confirmed what his mind couldn’t comprehend.

“Gine?” Bardock echoed.

“H-how-?” Vegeta growled as she flew down with a seething glare on her face.

Gine didn’t give the king a chance to finish his question. She screamed as she swung her fist back and dragged it across his face with all the force she could muster. She wasn’t going to let Vegeta lay another hand on Bardock. She was certain if she had arrived there a second later, Vegeta would’ve killed her Bardock. The King screamed angrily as he fell to the side, his hand flying to his cheek. Gine took the second she was given to drop to her knees by Bardock’s side and help him up. Fortunately, he was already getting up on his own, scrambling onto his hands and knees before Gine threw his arm over her shoulder.

“Come  _on_ , Bardock,” she cried as she heaved him to his feet.

“H-how are you-? I th-thought you were-” Bardock said, before snapping his gaze forward and baring his teeth.

Gine furrowed her brows, followed his gaze and gasped. King Vegeta’s gloved finger was pointed toward them, his thumb extended toward the sky, and a feral grin crossed his face as Gine’s eyes met his. Bardock’s weight bore down on Gine’s shoulder while she gasped a staggered breath but did nothing else. She couldn’t move. She was frozen under Vegeta’s icy gaze. It was like reliving her near-death in his bed, but  _this_  time, she knew there would be no second chance for her if he let his ki ignite. When his pointed finger slowly veered toward her left, toward Bardock, Gine’s eyes bulged. Not Bardock!

“No!” Gine screamed, pushing Bardock out of the way.

Bardock’s hands grasped her waist, tearing into her exposed skin beneath the lip of her armor and pulling her down with him. A laser-like blast shot from the king’s fingertip, searing Gine’s shoulder as she went down with a scream. Bardock cried out loudly as well as they toppled over each other on the ground, but they were still alive. 

So was Vegeta. And as Gine looked up, the king looked amused. He lifted his finger again and Gine concentrated on the gray and red smudges smeared over the usually pristine white material covering his fingertip. The subtle movement of tattered fringe from the hole blown in the wrist of his glove caught her eye just past his fingertip’s extension. And as she lifted her chin, anticipating the worst, that’s when she saw it.

Past Vegeta’s deadly finger, there was a rare haze washing the sky of its darkness. The prideful lift of Vegeta’s bearded chin revealed to her the round luminous light hanging in the sky which caused that white haze to permeate the darkness of nightfall. It filled her eyes until it was all she could see.

Her heart pounded.  Her body pulsed and shook.

After the ground began to tremble beneath her feet and Bardock’s fingers bore into her shoulders like claws, the last thing Gine could remember was a roar echoing from somewhere in the distance.

 

 


	15. Losing Ground

 

Brolly’s shoulders stiffened at the sound of a roar piercing the air. 

He knew what was happening, though he’d never lived through this event himself.  Being expelled to a moonless planet, Brolly had never enjoyed the sensation of transforming into a Great Ape.  From what he’d heard, even Saiyans living on Planet Vegeta only experienced this event once in his lifetime, eight years ago, as the appearance of their moon was a rarity. 

This full moon was a rare treat, which couldn’t have come at a better time.

The sight of warriors in the distance growing to massive sizes filled Brolly with awe.  While every inch of their bodies were covered in brown fur, their noses and jaws elongated to form snouts bearing monstrosities of jagged teeth.  Their tails whipped through the air like freight trains plowing into the vulnerable warriors who had not yet began their transformations.  Brolly felt his eyes blaze as he watched.  He wanted to look up, too.  He wanted to feel the exhilaration they were feeling.

“Everybody!” screamed a familiar voice, not too far away.  “Don’t look into the sky!  We’ll never win this battle if we transform!”

“What?” Brolly balked, before turning to see Raditz, who glared at all the Saiyans around him and stubbornly held his gaze low.  “Why would we lose?”

“Our disadvantage,” a woman answered.

Raditz’s gaze snapped to the warrior whose chin was lowered to her chest, her eyes lowered like Raditz’s.  She looked familiar.  She was definitely third class.  After taking in her attractive features thoroughly and seeing the younger boy floating forward from behind her as if to join her side, Raditz gasped.  “Kanna.”

After issuing Kakarot’s brother a curt nod, Kanna turned her gaze on Zukki.  “You heard him.  Keep your eyes  _down_.”

“What disadvantage?” Brolly pressed with a low growl.

“Seeing that most of the people fighting on this side are third class,” Raditz said before he leapt back to dodge a ki blast intersecting their group and nearly impaling him, “we’ll be in trouble if we transform.”

Brolly’s gaze followed the dispersing blast of ki brightening the night sky as he furrowed his brows.  His father hadn’t taught him much about the third class, aside from how they were beneath him and not worth his time.  Any disadvantage they might have against the elites as Great Apes, he wasn’t privy to.

Kanna sighed and exchanged a glance with Zukki.  She could see the legendary, outcasted elite had no idea what they were talking about, and she didn’t have time for this.  The fight was carrying on without them.  Now they had  _Great Ape_  elites to fight, and the number of the transformed was growing as they spoke. Their task had seemed impossible enough when it was just them against the elites, but now it was worse.  Kanna knew she had no other option but to fight.  The King was out to commit genocide on  _all_  third class Saiyans.  At this point, this war was self-defense. She could only wish the odds against them would stop growing.

“Those elite bastards were taught to master the form from birth,” Kanna spat with a wild wave of her hand.  “Most of us, well, we grew up alone on a distant planet with no one to guide  _us_.”

Zukki nodded.  “I’ve only transformed once, and I don’t even remember it.  The older low-class Saiyans who’ve had time to master the transformation can’t even do it as well as the elites can.”

Raditz turned a glare on Brolly.  “Imagine a bunch of wild, mindless apes being picked off for the slaughter by Giant Elite Apes with one conscious idea in their mind - destroying third class Saiyans.”

“ _I’m_  not third class,” Brolly said with a sneer and lift of his chin.  “I can transform.”

Overhearing Brolly as she closed in on the small group gathered round in midair, Leeka swept to Raditz’s side as she extended her arm to blast an elite coming toward her.  “If you haven’t been trained to do it, you don’t  _want_  to transform.”

Brolly scowled at Leeka.  “Yes, I do.”

“With no control of yourself, in a war like this, with a target that big on your back, you’ll die,” Raditz said.  He grimaced at the roar that cut him off as he shot his gaze toward the elite Ape storming toward them with thunderous footsteps.  “What am I saying?  You want to transform, Brolly?  Knock yourself out.”

Leeka chuckled.  That was her Raditz.  She darted forward, having no intention of waiting for that elite to get any closer.  As much as she enjoyed Raditz’s company on the battlefield, she had no idea what she was doing here.  Avoiding the sight of the tantalizing moon wasn’t easy, making it nearly impossible for her to battle these towering opponents.  Unless she was going to cut them at the knees, she was out of luck. 

Leeka looked to Raditz, who darted ahead of her in the sky, weaving around an untransformed male elite who flew into him with a roaring attack.  Leeka bared her teeth and drew her fist back before burying it in the elite’s gut the moment her path intersected with his.  It felt good to bury her fist in one of their uptight guts, but she didn’t have any time to linger on him.  Raditz was already on the move.  The others - she looked back – they had all dispersed, all except Brolly, who seemed to be contemplating his next move.

“Raditz,” she called.

“This isn’t good, Leeka,” Raditz yelled over the wind and garbled battle noises surrounding them.

With a burst of effort, Leeka flew up to meet his side and locked her gaze on his dark eyes and somber scowl.  “I know.”

“I’m not talking about  _them_ ,” Raditz said with a nod to an armored elite Ape who stalked through the distant mountains as if hunting for prey.  “We have worse problems.  Look!”

Raditz nodded behind him, indicating for Leeka to follow his gaze.  While Leeka narrowed her eyes, Raditz grit his teeth and set his sights straight ahead on the man-formed enemies whose eyes glowed red as they were just turning their gaze to the sky. 

Raditz stopped, his energy pulsing in midair as he grabbed Leeka in a constricting hug.  They couldn’t go that direction any longer, not unless they wanted to be killed.  Raditz tightened his grasp around Leeka’s lithe, muscular body before looking to her startled face.  Her eyes met his only briefly before darting back again, her jaw dropping before her head slowly began to shake.  Raditz hummed.  He knew she had seen them now – their real problem.  The third class Saiyans who’d transformed.  Specifically among them, their leader, his  _father_.  Bardock was good as dead after allowing himself to transform while fighting against the King of all Saiyans.

“I-is-“ Leeka furrowed her brows as she slowly withdrew from Raditz’s hold, “-is that your mother?”

“Mom?” Raditz raised a brow before following Leeka’s gaze, careful to evade the tempting light of the moon.  When his eyes lit on the ape with wild sprays of hair matching his mother’s style, Raditz blinked rapidly. “Wh-what’s she-she’s  _alive_?”

As if in answer, his Great Ape of a mother bellowed into the night sky while mindlessly flailing her arms through the air.  Raditz turned away and clenched his teeth.  It was embarrassing, seeing his parents behave so primitively when there were transformed elites stalking the battlefield in full control of themselves.

“Apparently,” Leeka grumbled.  “Rad, you need to do something.”

“Me?”

“Your father’s transformation renders him useless to us,” Leeka said with a scowl.  “I didn’t join this dumbass fight to get myself killed by joining up with the third class!”

“Will you stop with the third cl-“ Raditz startled and blinked.  “Hey!  You second class Saiyans can control your Great Ape transformation, can’t you?”

As more roaring, mindless apes from the third class crossed their path, thrashing through the mountains, Leeka snorted.  “Better than  _they_  can.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Raditz snapped, baring his teeth at Leeka.  “There’s no winning against the Great Ape unless we even the playing field.”

Leeka pursed her lips and turned away.  She sniffed, not wanting to voice what she was thinking.  This was no place or time for an argument.  But she had doubts about all of this.  Even with her cognizance in the form, going up against an elite as a Great Ape was a whole different league of fighting.  The odds were against her and her entire class, who held no stakes in this battle aside from jumping on the opportunity of a new fight.  Aside from that, the fact that Raditz was asking this of her, asking her people to risk their tails for his people’s screw-up, really rubbed Leeka the wrong way.  She was beginning to feel relieved that her daughter was off-planet somewhere where she couldn’t witness her father’s careless stupidity.

“Leeka!” Raditz growled.

“Fuck off, Raditz!”

Feeling the vein pulsing in his temple as adrenaline rushed through his body at all the danger and destruction occurring around them, Raditz growled through clenched teeth.  “Leeka, I don’t have time for this!  Look at the moon and transform!”

“No!”

“Do it!”  Raditz looked around, suddenly realizing Leeka wasn’t the only second class Saiyan on their side who could transform. 

When Raditz’s gaze fell upon a pair of second class Saiyans he recognized from Leeka’s building, whose chins were raised and bodies were enlarging before his eyes, Raditz gasped.  This was it.  This was the chance they needed.

At the sound of Raditz’s gasp, Leeka followed his gaze to see the transformations.  “Black-eye.  Selry.”

“See?”  Raditz huffed and crossed his arms.  “ _They_  follow my orders.”

Leeka narrowed her eyes.  “You don’t  _sleep_  next to them.  Stop making demands of me!”

“Dammit, fine!” Raditz leapt back in the sky, splaying his hands wide.  “I’m only suggesting the only thing I know to keep us alive!”

A mighty roar vibrated across the battlefield so loudly that Raditz and Leeka were both able to feel themselves tremble as the soundwaves resonated through the air.  Without thinking, Raditz latched onto Leeka’s arm as his gaze snapped toward the source of the noise.  It was the two who had just transformed.  They were larger than most Great Apes overtaking the stretch of valleys and mountains used as the battleground for this war.  Raditz hissed.  His scouter was blinking and beeping so rapidly as it measured the Great Apes’ ascending power that he had to tear the overheating device from his ear and toss it aside.  It exploded on impact with the nearby rock, flashing a blaze of orange to highlight the protuberances of the jagged rocks below.

“No!” Leeka screamed. 

As more shouts of objection followed from other Saiyans nearby, Raditz snapped his gaze to the pair of second class Great Apes.  Their roars which had overpowered all the others were quieting into groans as their bodies slumped forward.  The larger one, Black-eye, sliced his giant fist through the air in a last-ditch attempt to hit the elite Great Ape toppling over him.  But when the elite evaded the punch and when blood poured from Selry’s wounded abdomen beside them, Raditz knew this wasn’t good.  He grimaced as he watched the elite’s giant fingers wrap around Black-eye’s throat, causing the transformed Saiyan’s red eyes to bulge.

“Hm,” Brolly said as he watched the elite strangle the other ape.  He ran his tongue across his lips.  The battle was getting more intense – more interesting.  “I want to do it.   _I_  will be a Great Ape!”

Some cries of objection followed from warriors surrounding him, but Brolly ignored their hesitation as he cast his gaze on the moon above.  He breathed deeply.  It was beautiful.  It seemed to shimmer from its core, where, if Brolly peered closer, he could see the variations of the moon’s rising elevation shining different colors in its orbital glow.  But the glow surrounding it, that was the most brilliant.  It seemed to call to him with the way the light danced around it with waves of energy.  Brolly could feel his eyes dilating as he absorbed the sight which seemed to be coming closer to him.  His blood felt like it was on fire.  His fingers, his toes, his tail, everything twitched with growing energy.  No, it wasn’t just energy that was growing.   _He_  was growing.  And that tingling sensation wasn’t just his flesh prickling, but fur sprouting all over his body.  Brolly threw his head back and released a hearty roar.  He could feel it now.  The Power.

“Oh, shit,” Leeka said as she watched Brolly’s transformation, before snapping her gaze to Raditz.  “Raditz, what are we going to do?”

Raditz bit his lip, his gaze never leaving the sight of the victoriously roaring Great Ape ally he didn’t trust one bit.  “Hope he wins this for us.”

Leeka punched his shoulder.  “Shut up!  This is serious!”

“Hey!” Zukki interrupted as he flew toward his missing crewmate’s brother.  “Raditz, what’s the plan?”

“Dammit, I don’t know!”

Kanna flew to Zukki’s side and crossed her arms, sending Raditz a glare.  “ _You’re_  supposed to be in charge.”

“No,” Raditz sneered at the two intruders who seemed to be fueling Leeka’s hostility toward him.  “ _My father’s_  supposed to be in charge.  And look at him!”

Kanna cast a passing glance at the Great Ape Raditz indicated with a wave of his arm, who was winning a fight with a crumbling mountain and beating another Great Ape off his back.  “So,” she said, “what was his plan?”

“He-he had visions about this!”  Raditz’s eyes went wide as he gasped.

Leeka blinked at his startled expression before exchanging a glance with the other two.  If Raditz realized anything useful, there might be hope yet for this side of the battle.

“His visions!” Raditz breathed.  “He  _knew_  I’d be left in this situation!  That prick!”

“Raditz,” Leeka groaned.

“He’s been throwing me all these hints, but he can’t tell me  _one_  damn thing?”  Shaking his head furiously, Raditz levitated into the air above the group.  “Of course he can’t!  Because he knows I’d never agree to this!”

When Raditz struck a hand forward, shooting a blast at the ground below, where no Saiyan or enemy resided save for one unsuspecting animal who ended up fried by his blast, Leeka gasped.  This was  _not_  the reaction she was expecting from Raditz.  She expected a solution.  Now, it seemed like he was just losing it.

“What the hell?” Kanna snapped.

Screaming, Raditz threw another blast at the mountain past Kanna, nearly singeing the armor off her shoulder.  As Kanna growled and clenched her fists at Raditz, Zukki seized her by the arm and pulled her back.

Baring her teeth, Leeka darted toward her temperamental lover in place of the third class Saiyan he’d just pissed off.  “ _What_  did Bardock know you would never agree to, Raditz?”

“Thinks I won’t do it,” Raditz muttered, snarling at the mountains below.  “He couldn’t have just avoided his transformation?  No, because  _he_ doesn’t want to do it, either.  Fucking Kakarot.”

Leeka raised a brow.  “Kakarot?”

Raditz’s gaze snapped to Leeka, as if her voice snapped him out of a trance.  “You don’t know how my father is with his visions.  You haven’t lived with it.  He’s such a cryptic son a bitch sometimes, my old man.  He planned this whole thing.”

Leeka panned her gaze across the devastation around them, the wild fires, broken landscape, silhouettes of giant apes obscuring the black horizon while a battle in the sky raged on between Saiyans and Great Apes fighting their own kind.  “He planned…this?”

“Not for it to happen,” Raditz growled as his hands flew to his hair, tugging it from his scalp.  “This.  Now.  What  _I_  have to do.”

“With Kakarot?  But he’s not here.”

Biting his lip, Raditz turned his back on Leeka.  “He  _will_  be.”

Kanna sighed as the second class Leeka looked away from Raditz’s tensed shoulders and turned back to meet her questioning gaze.  This wasn’t going anywhere.  All she knew was that their leader mentally flew the coop, the king and his elite followers were hell-bent on killing her and everyone in her class, and Kakarot, the one third class Saiyan she would trust to find a way to put an end to all this shit, was missing all the action.  So unlike him. 

Kanna frowned at Zukki’s youthful, questioning gaze.  She knew he was looking to her now for answers.  Fuck Arsnip, their supposed team leader.  He was on  _their_  side.  And without Kakarot around, Kanna was the closest thing Zukki had to leadership.  But she was no leader.  Kakarot’s brother, Raditz was no leader either, apparently.  And Brolly was a wild card.  You’d have to be the dumbest son of a bitch on the planet to trust  _him_  to defend their side.  But  _where_  was Kakarot?

A battle cry snapped Kanna out of her musing.  Zukki shoved her aside just as a blast careened toward them, its light cutting through the darkness just before it collided with Zukki's chest.  Kanna somersaulted through the air with a cry.

“Kid!” Leeka yelled.

She dove in to rescue the singed warrior who started to plummet from the sky after taking that direct blast.  Leeka grit her teeth as his weight settled in her arms, colliding hard at first but melting into her as she began a slow descent to the ground.  She could hear Raditz and the third class woman above her yelling at one another, following her to the ground, but she kept her eyes fixed on the boy’s unconscious face.  He wasn’t a little kid.  By Saiyan standards, he wasn’t even a kid.  No one past a year of infancy was treated like a child.  But in that moment, Leeka couldn’t help feeling for the warrior. 

Zukki clutched the fabric surrounding Leeka’s shoulder.  “Tell K-Kanna-“

His head lopped to the side and Leeka frowned.  His energy was dwindling rapidly, judging by the slowing beeps in Leeka’s scouter which automatically fixed its reading on the life form in her arms.  His tattered armor was coated in blood which smeared across Leeka’s armor as she pressed him to her chest.  She could feel her tail furling and unfurling behind her as her boots hit the ground.  When she finally decided to drop him to the dirt, slowly and gently, Leeka realized she might never hold her own daughter like this.  Auberga might die on a distant planet just as this boy was dying now, without Leeka ever seeing her.

The clack of boots hitting the rock behind her made Leeka go rigid before she heard Raditz’s voice.  “Leeka.”

“He’s dead,” she said.

Kanna breezed past Leeka to fall on her knees by the kid's corpse.  “Zukki!”

“I figured.”

Leeka whirled on Raditz, baring her teeth.  “Do whatever you have to do to make sure I don’t see any more of this tonight, Raditz!”

Raditz crossed his arms and scowled.  He didn’t want to do what had to be done to win this war, but Saiyans were dying all around him.  His parents were remarkably still alive, but vulnerable in their current form.  Leeka wasn’t happy with him, not that it was anything new, but it bothered Raditz, as much as he was loath to admit it.  This powerful reaction of hers to Zukki’s death was unexpected.  As far as Raditz knew, Leeka didn’t even know the kid’s name.  He was more of a third class nobody than Raditz.  But Leeka seemed more disturbed by his death than anything else happening out on this bleak battlefield.

Kanna shot to her feet from Zukki’s side, heaving shallow breaths as she sent Raditz a glare.  “Find Kakarot!  Do whatever you need to do!  Get his useless ass out here to fight!  I’m not dying today!”

“ _We’re_  not dying today,” Raditz said through clenched teeth as he brushed past the irate woman.

Once he was past them both, Raditz rolled his eyes.  How he had ended up here, left to bear the pressure of command, down on the ground with two furious Saiyan women and no one else to take their abuse but a cooling corpse, he had no clue.  He needed to get out of this situation soon.  The window of opportunity for improving their odds in this war was closing.  Raditz needed to find Kakarot, whether he liked it or not.  But he had two problems.  First, he didn’t know  _where_  to find Kakarot or what was taking the bastard so long.  Second, he had no idea how Kakarot would be the key to winning this.  All Raditz had to go on were his father’s accounts of visions and vague messages which now had been clearly intended for him all along.

Raditz turned his gaze to the sky but quickly shot it back down to the ground.  He panted.  He’d caught a glimpse of the moon’s glow, but he didn’t think he’d looked long enough.  As he knit his brows and concentrated on the darkness and lifelessness of the ground below him, Raditz waited, but he didn’t feel any changes taking hold.  He took a staggered breath and exhaled slowly as he balled his fists by his sides.  That was a close one – for him.  But others weren’t as lucky.  Soldiers on his side were ticking off one by one, either from becoming useless due to the transformation, or from death.

Raditz’s gaze darted to the nearest passageway between mountains, where a group was landing for a moment of recovery.  It appeared one of them held by the largest in their group was injured; another seemed intent on defending those incapacitated Saiyans while one square-jawed Saiyan met Raditz’s gaze, still holding the glint of a desire to fight in his dark eyes.

Raditz smiled when he recognized the face.  Toma.  His father’s crew was still intact.  Raditz could recognize the others now, aside from the injured party.  There was Seripa and Totapo with Toma.  Raditz was surprised to see the elite Totapo fighting on their side.  His father  _had_  enlisted Totapo’s help, in spite of him being an elite.  By joining the third class side of this battle, Totapo was one of them now.  He’d demonstrated his loyalty by sticking with his crew more than any third or second class warrior fighting this battle. 

Raditz heard a twig crack beside him and glanced sideways to see Leeka calm and tranquil as she came to his side.  Raditz watched her exchange a wink with Toma, who gave her a thumbs up before launching into the sky to continue the fight.  When Leeka finally met Raditz’s gaze without animosity for the first time since this battle had started, Raditz offered her a small smile.  They still had a chance.  This battle wasn’t over yet. 

All Raditz had to do was hold out until Kakarot appeared.  And hope Prince Vegeta wouldn’t destroy what little chance they had.

 


	16. The Uprising

 

Cries of war were coming from the mountains up ahead. When Kakarot was finally able to see the battle scene, he couldn’t believe his eyes.  The dark sky blazed to life when a red ray of ki shot through the atmosphere.  It came from the gaping mouth of one Great Ape among dozens of them. 

Hidden behind the mountains somewhere in the sky, Vegeta’s moon was full.  Now that he saw the evidence of it, Kakarot could  _feel_  it.  It was like a call driving him forward, moreso than the impending battle.  But when he drew closer, Kakarot gasped.  There were no words to describe the amount of bloodshed and chaos occurring.  Devastation was an understatement. This was like a purge, but happening on  _his_  home planet with a vastly greater number of soldiers on the attack.  Hundreds of untransformed Saiyans were trying to take down the undefeatable monsters into which his race could transform.  When another ape bellowed words Kakarot couldn’t understand from this distance, he felt a chill crawl up his spine.  The  _elites_  were transformed. 

Kakarot was torn between two instincts - one electrifying him with the thrilling prospect of joining this mass battle, and the other gripping him with a fear like he’d never felt before.  Not on any purge, not on his first solo mission, not even when he’d faced an angry King Vegeta face to face had Kakarot felt this level of fear.

And  _desire_.

“The moon,” Vegeta said beside him, growling under his breath.  “They’ve used the full moon to transform!”

Kakarot looked up, his eyes darting across the vast, starry skyline.  “Where is it?”

Kakarot was knocked off-balance in the sky.   As intense pain throbbed in his jaw, he righted himself before he would careen into the soil below.

“Idiot!” Vegeta said, baring his teeth and withdrawing his fist from Kakarot’s face.  “Do you have a death wish?”

With a look of hurt and irritation, Kakarot scowled at Vegeta as he rubbed the back of his hand across his jaw.  “What’d you do  _that_  for?  Looking at the moon won’t kill me.”

“It’ll  _transform_  you,” Vegeta drawled.  “And a third class like you is good as dead in that state in a fight like this.”

“A third class like me, huh?”  Kakarot cocked a brow and inclined his chin as he looked past Vegeta.  “My  _third class_  father seems to be holding his own.”

Vegeta’s eyes bulged as he whirled in the air to see what Kakarot was seeing.  The Great Ape to whom Kakarot seemed to be referring was blasting a beam of ki from his mouth toward a crowd of untransformed Saiyans – who were probably fighting on  _his_  side. As he turned to approach another Great Ape nearing him, Vegeta frowned.  He recognized that Great Ape approaching Bardock as a notoriously sadistic elite.  Even in the transformed state, Vegeta could recognize that gleam in the elite guard’s red eyes as he approached the seemingly grinning third class Ape.

“B-Bardock!”  Vegeta scoffed through his teeth and balled his fists.  “Moron.”

“Moron?”

Before Kakarot could say anymore, Vegeta launched toward the pair of Apes closing in on each other.  He clenched his fist and drew it into his chest as he propelled himself forward faster.  A grin spread across his lips as the wind lashed at his face and he closed in on them, feeling the power accumulating in his grasp.  This fool wouldn’t know what hit him.

“Vegeta!”

Ignoring Kakarot’s yell, Vegeta grit his teeth and extended his hand forward.  He could feel his blood stirring with the promise of blood.  Killing a Great Ape was a rare treat and would definitely be more impressive than most of his other kills.

“Vegeta!”  Kakarot’s voice was closer now, but he should’ve known following his prince was a pointless idea.

Vegeta opened his palm with a yell, letting the ki he’d gathered shoot out in a devastating, brilliantly blinding white beam of pain for whoever might be unfortunate enough to cross its path.  Watching the beam cut across the night sky, Vegeta grit his teeth as the corner of his lip tugged into a smile.  He couldn’t wait to see the devastation he’d cause.

“Vegeta,” Kakarot panted in Vegeta’s ear, placing a hand on Vegeta’s arm.  

Vegeta shrugged the hand off and kept his gaze fixed ahead.  The light of his blast dwindled, dissipating in reactive sparks through the cloud of dust it left in its destructive wake.  The roaring Apes who’d been shaken by Vegeta’s surprise attack were no longer visible behind the massive plume of gray dust, no longer roaring. 

“I thought you were on our side!”

At the sound of a great mass collapsing, Vegeta spat to the ground below.  “I guess I have one thing in common with Brolly.  I’m on no one’s side but  _mine_.”

“Vegeta.”  Kakarot gulped as he turned his eyes to where the settling dust removed the dark cloud that had obscured his vision.  

When the Great Ape still standing came into focus, Kakarot blinked.  He rubbed his eyes with his fists.  He couldn’t be seeing right.  It had to be wishful thinking making him recognize his father’s features in that of the Ape who  _hadn’t_  fallen to his unsuspecting death at the hands of their prince.  

With a gasp, Kakarot turned to Vegeta.  “Vegeta!  I thought you were aiming for my father.”

“Oh,” Vegeta said, smirking as he followed Kakarot’s gaze to the rampaging Bardock.  “I almost forgot.”

When Vegeta’s hand flew forward a second time, Kakarot tensed.  Another blast flew from Vegeta’s capable fingertip.  Vegeta had taken Kakarot by such surprise that he had no time to react.  Gritting his teeth, Kakarot followed the narrow red beam with his eyes as it traveled straight for his oblivious monster of a father.  

When the blast hit and Bardock roared, Kakarot felt his chest clench.  Without his father, Kakarot didn’t know how they were going to win this.  He and every other third class Saiyan would die.   _His_  death in particular would be slow and painful.

Growling, Kakarot turned a glare on Vegeta.  “Vegeta!”

Vegeta’s eyes narrowed as they met Kakarot’s.  Slowly, he lowered his rigid arm to his side.  Behind Kakarot, Vegeta could see the blood spurt from his freshly-delivered wound to Bardock’s fur-covered flesh.  He bit his bottom lip as a piece of Bardock severed; dropped off.

“What?” Vegeta snapped in response to Kakarot.

Kakarot cocked a brow, noting Vegeta seemed smug about something.  He believed Vegeta would kill his father against his wishes, but he couldn’t believe he’d be  _smug_  about it.  Not like this anyway.  Hesitantly, Kakarot turned.  His father looked smaller, but there was no massive hole in his chest.  He wasn’t covered in blood.  Rather than being tained by red, Bardock’s coloring seemed lighter.  Kakarot blinked rapidly.  He  _was_  lighter.  His fur was receding; his snout.  His tail was-

Kakarot whirled on Vegeta, his eyes bulging as he realized Vegeta didn’t kill his father.  Instead, he’d ended his transformation by brutally removing his tail.  The act was almost crueler than if he’d murdered him.  “You bastard!”

Vegeta smirked, showing no hint of remorse in his eyes.  “I don’t have time to waste arguing with  _you_ , Kakarot.  I’ve got more important people to hurt.”

Kakarot clenched his teeth as Vegeta flew off with a sadistic grin on his face, cutting their conversation short.  As much as Kakarot wanted to follow Vegeta to make him pay for that, Kakarot was also enticed by the battle.  Sounds of screams, explosions, and roars drew Kakarot’s mind and eye to the battlefield.  But as he turned back to his shrinking father, he knew there was something he had to do before he could indulge in clashing his fists with others.

* * *

 

A scouter alert drew Raditz’s eye to the sky.  The recognizable sight of Prince Vegeta blurring past overhead elicited a gasp from Raditz.  He held that breath as he turned his eyes in the direction from which the prince arrived.  Raditz wasn’t surprised to find his brother there.  He watched Kakarot plummet toward the battleground behind remains of peaks plowed through by Giant Apes.

“Raditz!” Toma called.

It was about time his brother showed his face here.  With a guttural growl, Raditz surged forward.  There was a forceful collision.  His vision went black.

Toma gnashed his teeth as he watched his warning of the Great Ape’s attack go unheeded.  As Raditz’s limp body turned through the air, the giant fist pulled back from smashing his face in, revealing its hairy knuckles stained and moistened with Raditz’s blood.

Toma bared his teeth as his eyes turned to Raditz’s descent.  “Raditz!”

Raditz’s eyes snapped open.  All he could feel was pain and he was only slightly aware of being in the air, but he knew there was something urgent awakening him.  With a sharp inhale, he felt the pull of gravity more consciously and turned to right himself in the air.  He circled around as his hand flew to his throbbing cheek, which somehow hurt worse than the agony his head was feeling.

“Raditz,” Toma called again, a smile breaking the worry from his face as Bardock’s kid turned to face him.  “What the fuck did you think you were doing?  Didn’t you see him there?”

Raditz blinked.  He hardly registered Toma’s words over the whirring in his head, or the noises from his surrounding catastrophic environment.  But as he looked past Toma to the bedlam occurring between Great Apes and Saiyans of all classes, it all came back to him in an instant.  Following the inclined gazes of his comrades, Raditz glanced over his shoulder, back to where he’d been hit before he lost consciousness.  His eyes lit on a large pair of red eyes staring back at him.

The Ape laughed.  “Still alive, Raditz?  Looks like I shouldn’t hold back if I want to finally crush you like the puny bug you are.”

“Nappa!” Raditz rubbed the back of his gloved fist across his bleeding nose as he glared up at his enlarged elite teammate.  “That was a cheap shot!”

“Does it look like I care?”

Toma furrowed his brows, his eyes darting between the elite monster trying to destroy them and his comrade.  Or maybe Raditz was potentially his leader.  With Bardock in his condition – Toma looked around, but couldn’t find the dumb Ape – wherever he had gone, Raditz was the best chance they had of holding this altogether.  If things went south for him, Toma knew the responsibility would fall in  _his_  lap.  He was  _all for_  the action, but of the responsibility, Toma wanted no part.

Still, Toma knew the only blame for why Raditz had so blindly collided with Nappa’s fist was some sort of distraction.  The kid had been heading toward something, determined.  Toma turned his gaze in the direction in which Raditz had been looking, but he saw nothing beyond the mountainous peaks blown apart by the recent fighting.  When Toma turned his gaze on Raditz, he noticed that the younger warrior’s gaze darted that way, too.  Raditz  _did_  see something over there.  But there was no way in hell Nappa was going to let him through.

“Toma,” Leeka whispered, just behind him.

Nappa stepped forward, his massive weight quaking the ground and causing rocks to chip off the brittle protrusions of land surrounding them.  Leeka knew even with herself, Raditz, Toma and his team here, their chances of defeating Nappa were slim.  Even for  _surviving_  a fight with him, the odds didn’t look promising.  

“Seripa,” Toma said, knowing Nappa had his sights set on Raditz and wouldn’t let him pass.  “See what’s on the other side of those mountains.”

Toma heard Seripa draw near, the night wind batting against her movements.  “ _Those_ mountains?  That’s wh-where’d they go?”

“Huh?” Toma said under the mask of Nappa’s chilling growl, flinching at the Giant Ape’s hostile movement toward Raditz.  “Who?”

Seripa raised a brow at Leeka.  “Leeka?”

“They’re gone, Seripa,” Leeka confirmed.  “But they were there just a second ago!”

“That blast earlier!”  Seripa bared her teeth, snapping her gaze in that direction.

A giant tail swung through the air.  Seripa yelled as Toma seized her in his arms and dove for cover.  

“Who?” Toma had to shout over Leeka’s bloodcurdling scream as the wave of Nappa’s tail crashed into her and sent her flying to the ground.  “Who was there?” 

 When Leeka hit the nearby mountainside, Toma winced at the crash and furious roar he heard from Raditz, but he wasn’t going to go after her.  Raditz wasn’t either.  She could peel herself free of those rocks and get herself back on her feet.  No self-respecting Saiyan would  _want_  the help, no matter how badly injured. 

“Bardock,” Seripa said, seizing Toma by the shoulders.  “Toma,  _Bardock_  was over there, clashing with an elite!  I’ve been keeping an eye on him and Gine since they transformed!  But now he’s gone.” 

“Fuck.”  Toma looked that direction, hoping a massive Ape would suddenly reappear.  Nothing was there but the black sky. 

When Toma looked back to Seripa, his gaze hardening, he didn’t have to say another word.  She grunted with a curt nod before bounding off the ground and weaving around the rocky landscape in a haze of white aura, until she was out of sight.  Toma heaved a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived.  A deep, guttural chuckle from the Ape above him was all the reminder he needed of what deep shit they were in.  Toma has to get back in that fight. He couldn’t let Raditz die, not if he wanted to survive this war.  Besides, he could’ve lived his entire lifetime without ever getting this chance to freely hit an elite with a status such as Nappa’s. 

Toma was going to enjoy this.

* * *

 As Raditz evaded another sweep from Nappa’s powerful tail, he caught a glimpse of movement blurring past in a haze of white.  When the blur disappeared behind rocks, Raditz flicked his gaze to Toma.  He knew his dad’s crew mates were up to something, but he couldn’t get out of this fight to find out what that was or who had gone past even if he tried.  Not that he  _would_  try.  Even if Nappa seemed to have the advantage, the asshole had been riding Raditz’s ass about being third class for years now.  On too many missions, Raditz suffered humiliation from Nappa and Prince Vegeta.  The only teammate he had who ever respected his power was Prince Tarble, and he was long gone.   

Even inflicting the smallest amounts of damage on Nappa felt good.  The few hits he’d landed on Nappa’s face hadn’t made much of an impact on the Great Ape, but the grunts and growls of pain Raditz caused him were pleasing to Raditz’s ears.   

At this point, Raditz felt like his ribs were broken. Leeka seemed to be knocked out after taking that brutal hit from Nappa, but Raditz wasn’t walking away from this fight, even if not walking away now might’ve meant not walking away at all.  Whoever had traveled to the other side of those mountains would be meeting up with Kakarot by now.  Raditz raised his fists and his power as he turned his eyes on Nappa’s hideous face again.  He would have to settle for knowing what went on with Kakarot  _after_  this fight. 

* * *

 

Everything was hazy when he opened his eyes.  Feeling sick to his stomach, Bardock curled in on himself.  A sharp pain made his stomach lurch again and his eyes bulge open.  Gritting his teeth, Bardock narrowed his eyes into a glare.  He wasn’t only in pain from fighting.  Someone was  _kicking_  him! 

“Get up!  Are you awake yet?” 

Bardock whirled on his attacker, swinging his arm wide to backhand whoever dared to disrupt the important scenario playing through his mind moments ago.

 “Dad!” 

Bardock’s eyes went wide as his knuckles made contact with vulnerable flesh.  Kakarot.  His son.  He cackled.  It felt good to land a hit on the kid. 

“Ow!  Dad!” Kakarot seethed, his hand flying to his reddening face. 

Bardock sat up, scowling.  “What took you so long?” 

“I-“ Kakarot stopped abruptly, his eyes seemingly losing focus.  “I got distracted.” 

“By Prince Vegeta,” Bardock said, remembering it from his vision as the haze of his transformation cleared.  As pieces slowly started to fall together, a flash of King Vegeta with bared teeth dominating his vision, Bardock gasped and looked toward the sky.  “Prince Vegeta!  Where is he?” 

“Flew off,” Kakarot said, crossing his arms. 

Catching sight of something approaching them from the sky, Bardock furrowed his brows.  “Is he coming back?” 

“For me?”  Kakarot scoffed.  “Yeah, right.” 

Bardock shook his head.  “I didn’t mean coming back for  _you_.  I meant-“ 

As his father’s eyes looked past him and his brows knit together in a hard line, Kakarot stopped his scowling and cut off any thoughts he was having about Vegeta to look over his shoulder.  Sure enough, someone  _was_  coming.  But it wasn’t the prince. 

“Seripa,” Bardock said. 

Kakarot pursed his lips.  He’d hoped to speak to his father alone.  Seripa’s presence wasn’t wanted at the moment.  Especially when she had that bitchy glower on her face, directed at him for some reason, as if he’d done anything to deserve it. 

As Seripa landed a foot in front of them, Bardock cracked a crooked smile for her.  It was always good to see her on the battlefield.  It was also a relief to know she hadn’t succumbed to any danger from the transformation.  However, Bardock knew he’d seen deaths during his vision.  Not every Saiyan was coming out of this so lucky. 

“Kakarot,” Seripa said as she placed her hands on her hips.  “So you finally decide to join the battle.” 

“Yeah,” Kakarot said, rubbing his hands together as his gaze cut toward the sky.  “Which direction is the moon?” 

Seripa scoffed before socking him in the jaw.  “You dumbass.  You think this is a game?” 

Growling, Kakarot shot his hand out and seized Seripa by the throat.  Bardock’s eyes bulged as he witnessed Seripa’s eyes widen in terror.  He’d barely seen his son’s movements.  He had no idea when Kakarot had gotten so fast.  Maybe what he’d seen in this latest vision was more reliable than he’d originally thought. 

As a strangled whimper escaped Seripa’s throat, Bardock rolled his eyes and gave a lazy wave of his hand.  “Put her down, Kakarot.” 

After Kakarot dropped Seripa with a smirk crossing his face, Seripa rubbed her throat and glared up at him.  “Asshole.” 

“Kakarot,” Bardock said.  “Prince Vegeta’s going to kill the king.” 

Kakarot blinked.  “His father?” 

Bardock cast his son a withering glare before turning to Seripa.  “Where’s Gine?” 

Seripa pointed skyward, past Bardock.  “There.” 

As Bardock and Kakarot trained their gazes in the direction of Seripa’s finger, Kakarot blew a raspberry.  “You  _both_  get to transform, yet I don’t?” 

As Bardock’s eyes lit on the Great Ape storming unaware through a dangerous battlefield full of angry, powerful Saiyans, he felt a shot of pain twist at his chest.  There was nothing he could do for her.  But hadn’t he transformed along with her, as Kakarot said?  The memory was hazy, but he recalled the brilliant sight of the moon before awakening here with Kakarot. 

“She’s fine, Bardock,” Seripa said, ignoring Kakarot’s complaint.  “Leeka’s keeping an eye out for her.”

 “Of course she’s fine,” Kakarot said.  “Mom can take care of herself.” 

“She’s a weakling,” Bardock corrected.  “And right now, a dumb animal.” 

Kakarot shot a smile at Seripa.  “He loves her; can’t you tell?” 

“Bardock, Kakarot,” Seripa said, her fists clenching by her sides.  “The elites are  _pounding_  us.  The numbers are in their favor, now that we’ve been so outmatched against their control as Great Apes.” 

Bardock scoffed.  “Bastards.  Where’s King Vegeta now?” 

“Fighting Brolly.” 

“Brolly?” Bardock said, following Seripa’s gaze. 

Kakarot looked that way as well - not because he cared about the fight between the king and the outcast maniac, but because he knew Vegeta was bound that way.  There was no doubt those two were the ones Vegeta would target – the only Saiyans Vegeta would consider important enough to fight.  He might not want to fight his father, but he’d definitely want some of Brolly’s blood.  Kakarot could recognize which of the two Apes was Brolly.  Somehow, even as an Ape, Brolly was bigger than the other transformed Saiyans.  The king, relentlessly vicious, seemed to be holding his own against Brolly, but it was clear that Brolly wasn’t expending his energy as much as the king.   

“Think Brolly’s going to kill him?” Seripa asked. 

“Does it matter?” Bardock said.  “I want  _both_  those fuckers dead.” 

Kakarot raised a brow.  “It would save you half the work if he did.” 

Turning to meet his son’s eyes, Bardock smirked.  “Now where’s the fun in that?” 

Kakarot returned the grin.  Killing either one of those two  _would_ be thrilling.  He’d never had a chance to kill an elite before.  Kakarot licked his lips as he turned his eyes on the busy, tumultuous sky.  This war zone was full of them.  Tons of elites were just waiting to fight him.  It might be fun to fight as a Great Ape, but Kakarot wanted to  _remember_ this day.  He wouldn’t be able to if he transformed.  He’d have to avoid setting eyes on the moon.  But fighting against Great Apes left the odds against him. 

“Looks like you don’t have to trouble yourselves anyway,” Seripa said, pointing a finger toward the king and Brolly’s fight.  “It seems our Prince has a hard-on for that battle.” 

Kakarot gasped at the sight of a small figure flying between the brutally clashing fists of the Apes.  “Vegeta!” 

“What if he transforms, too?” Seripa said through clenched teeth.  “I don’t want to see the blood bath we’d have then.” 

“He can’t transform with the moon gone away,” Bardock said, a frown immediately crossing his face when he processed dubious expressions from the other two.  “What?” 

“The moon hasn’t gone anywhere, Bardock.” 

“Then wha-“ Bardock patted his chest, affirming that he was indeed returned to his more intellectual form. 

“You owe this transformation to Prince Vegeta,” Kakarot said with a grimace.  “He took your tail.” 

“My-“ Bardock reached behind, patting his backside and flinching when he felt a moist stump in place of his tail.  Clenching his teeth, he released a furious growl.  “I’m going to kill that bastard!” 

“Didn’t you say he’s going to kill King Vegeta?” Kakarot said. 

“Yes!” 

“Then maybe you want to give him a minute before you kill him.”  A grin crossed Kakarot’s face.  “Besides, you just gave me an idea.” 

With his grin spreading wider, Kakarot launched into the air toward the prince and fighting Great Apes.  Bardock shook his head.  He would’ve called Kakarot back like Seripa was doing, but he knew there was no use.  His son was a loose cannon and impossible to stop when he had his mind set on something. 

Kakarot tightened his jaw as he approached his target.  This wasn’t going to be easy, but he was excited for the challenge.  Vegeta wouldn’t like what he was doing, but that was too bad.  Kakarot knew Vegeta had it out for Brolly, understandably, but Kakarot wanted his piece of the guy before Vegeta laid a hand on him.  Underhanded as this might be, it was only fair after the way Brolly played dirty with him back at the castle. 

Digging his teeth into his bottom lip, Kakarot sped towards Brolly with his eyes set on his target.  He gathered energy in his palm.  He couldn’t miss his mark.  If he did, he wouldn’t get another chance at this.  Either Brolly, King Vegeta, or even Vegeta himself would attack him once he threw himself in there.  He had to get in and get out. 

Once he was close enough, Kakarot extended his arm and let out a shout as he expelled his gathered power down the length of his arm, out through his palm.  He could feel the Great Apes’ eyes on him and he could sense Vegeta’s shock at seeing him there, attacking Brolly.  But Kakarot only narrowed his eyes at his target as he watched his beam of ki cut through the fur-covered flesh of Brolly’s tail.  When blood spurted from the wound and Brolly let loose an agonized roar, Kakarot smiled. 

“Kakarot!” the king roared.  “What are you doing here?” 

“You-“ Vegeta met Kakarot’s gaze, his eyes wide with rage.  “You stay out of this!” 

When Vegeta raised his arms above his head with the clear intent to gather ki, Kakarot darted out of the way.  Taking cover behind the largest thing nearby seemed like the wisest choice.  But when he pressed against the soft fur of Brolly’s back, which writhed against him as the beast-like form began to shrink, Kakarot realized he needed to move again. 

Unleashing a scream as powerful as his attack, Vegeta threw his ki forward toward Brolly and Kakarot both.  At this point, he didn’t care which one of them he hit.  Kakarot could always recover in the tanks after this.  Even in the heat of battle, Vegeta couldn’t help licking his lips as the distracting imagery of Kakarot in the tanks crossed his mind.  His ki flickered and flashed before his eyes, refocusing his attention as it made contact with something.  As the blast sounded, a rumble sounded from behind him.

 “Vegeta, transform,” his father’s voice boomed overhead, “so we can wipe this planet clean of the third class scum tainting our proud race.” 

Clenching his jaw, Vegeta crossed his arms and watched Brolly continue to cry out in agony and throw his fists in the air.  He was shrinking, reducing to normal.  Vegeta’s eyes narrowed as he focused on the transforming beast, refusing to turn and look at his father.  At this point, Vegeta had lost sight of Kakarot.  Vegeta was going to make the third class fool suffer for that move.  He didn’t need Kakarot’s help taking Brolly down, but now the enlarged freak was losing his transformation.  Kakarot  _had_  helped Vegeta by taking Brolly’s tail.  Vegeta almost hated himself more than Kakarot when he realized  _he’d_  been the one responsible for inspiring Kakarot‘s idea. 

“Vegeta,” King Vegeta beckoned again. 

“Shut up, Old man.”

A startled roar informed Vegeta that his ‘old man’ was none too happy with his remark, but the warning wasn’t enough to prepare him for the strike that was coming.  Vegeta didn’t realize what had hit him until he was flying through the air and smacking into the open palm of his enraged father. 

“Old man?” King Vegeta roared at his disrespectful son cradled in his palm.  “Is that how you address your king?” 

Vegeta pushed off his father’s palm and sneered. “I’m going to defeat Brolly  _without_  relying on that disgraceful transformation, so stay out of my way unless you plan to watch me do it.” 

“ _You_  are?”  King Vegeta chuckled, the low sound echoing through the valleys and walls of rock surrounding them.  “This is  _my_  fight, son.  Stay out of it if you wish to inherit my throne.” 

“And who else would you give it to?” Vegeta said with a narrowing of his eyes as the king’s massive fingers fell away from surrounding him.  “Your precious Tarble who you couldn’t bear to kill?” 

“Careful, Boy,” King Vegeta growled with a pointed glance at Brolly down below, who was no longer an Ape, but had fallen unconscious.  

“I don’t plan on letting  _him_  take it from me,” Vegeta said as he pointed a rigid finger at the powerful elite laid curled in a ball, “so I suggest you stay out of my way and focus on destroying the third class scum you’re so concerned about.” 

The king’s red eyes widened before narrowing into a glare.  His eyes darted past Vegeta before sparking with recognition.  His pointed teeth shined as his beastly lips pulled into a smile.  “Yes.  I think I will.  Since they don’t matter to you either, Vegeta, I’ll start with the lowest of the bunch.  It’s time I finish off Bardock…and his  _worthless_  offspring.” 

Vegeta’s eyes bulged as his father stepped forward, batting Vegeta aside as if he was a fly buzzing around his face for too long.   Vegeta’s hands curled into fists as he righted himself and panted at the dizzying movement inflicted on him by his father’s half-hearted attack.  Glaring at the wall of his father’s back, Vegeta growled through his teeth.  He shot his hand forward and released a blast of ki invoked solely by the rage he felt at being treated so disgracefully. 

When the blast hit the center of his back, the king stopped short.  His shoulders tensed, but he did not turn.  

When he proceeded forward again, letting out a low warning growl, Vegeta gnashed his teeth together.  His father was going to kill Kakarot.  For all Vegeta cared, his father could kill Bardock and Raditz, but Kakarot was different.  Vegeta shot his gaze to the ground.  Brolly was stirring, about to regain consciousness.  No.  Vegeta shook his head furiously.  Kakarot wasn’t any more important than this.  No one was more important than Vegeta claiming his throne.  Nothing was more important than his pride.  Vegeta’s first priority was defeating Brolly.  Without defending his claim over Kakarot, there was no point in pursuing that third class asshole anyway.  Without this win, Kakarot might as well be dead. 

“I  _will_  make you suffer for this, Kakarot,” Vegeta muttered aloud.  “I know you won’t die so easily in this battle.  You’ll still be here when I’m finished with this fool.” 

* * *

 

Brolly’s eyes blinked open as he pressed his hands to the ground and tried to recall where he was.  He licked his lips, tasting blood in his mouth, not from his own injuries, but the foreign blood of his victims.  His lip curled on one side as he recalled the vicious things he’d done during his transformation.  It was incredible!  But now…Brolly looked at his hands.  They opened and closed before his eyes, free of fur, with fingers as long and lean as Brolly remembered them  _before_  the transformation.  He moved to wrap his tail around his waist and when nothing soft brushed against his hip, cast his gaze downward.  His armor was prominent, unimpeded by any fur.  When Brolly tried to move the beloved appendage again, his jaw dropped.  Nothing.  It was gone. 

Looking upward, Brolly felt his throat go dry as he spotted Prince Vegeta hovering over him.  His teeth cut into his bottom lip as his jaw tightened and rage flooded through his body.  Someone had removed his tail when he wasn’t looking.  And he’d been enjoying himself  _so_  much.  Vegeta hovered mockingly above him, as if ready to fight.  Brolly would make him pay for this, whether it was Vegeta’s doing or not. 

It was time Planet Vegeta had a new prince.  And soon after, its new king.

 


	17. Battle Worn

 

Brolly felt his anticipation building with every hit.  Soon he would be the king of all Saiyans.  As he flew at Prince Vegeta, Brolly sunk his teeth into his bottom lip.  The prince pathetically attempted to dodge his blow, but Brolly was able to anticipate his slower movement.  Adjusting his aim, Brolly sank his fist into Vegeta’s face.  He could hear the cheekbone crack and feel the prince’s eye socket cave beneath his knuckles.  Bit by bit, he was reducing the stubborn prince of Saiyans to the  _nothing_  he was in comparison to Brolly.  He would fulfill his destiny as the legend his father always told him he was meant to be.    
  
As Brolly laughed, Vegeta stifled a groan.  Clenching his teeth, he observed his opponent, looking for any weaknesses he could use to his advantage.  He wasn’t performing well in this fight, he knew it.  But he was the prince of all Saiyans.  He would be damned if he let some ex-communicated nobody steal his throne  _or_  his life.  
  
With a growl, Vegeta ignored his pain and fatigue as he forced his body to go on fighting, propelling himself toward Brolly.  He would land his fist in that ugly mug again and again until he wiped the smirk right off the so-called “legendary”’s face.

* * *

 

Ignoring his son’s screams and Brolly’s victorious laughter hadn’t been easy, but King Vegeta had hardened himself to that disappointment when he’d spotted Gine storming around the battlefield.  Oddly enough, he found her beautiful, even in that animalistic form.  Her roar was pleasing to his ears as she writhed away from the stray blasts hitting her from the fights surrounding her.  It was true that his main target, out of spite for his son’s rebellion, was Kakarot, but Gine was the one he thought he’d already killed.  Letting her live through this battle was inexcusable.  Besides, wherever Bardock and his offspring were hiding, attacking Gine would draw them out.

As his lips stretched across his snout into a grin, King Vegeta stomped forward to meet the oblivious Great Ape.  He felt his tail wag behind him at the promise of striking down the woman who would be the key to the end of the rebellious Bardock and his family.  The end to his son’s shamefully public dalliance with the scum of their planet.  No elite would ever know about  _his_  association with Bardock’s weakling wife, either.  Vegeta would do whatever it took to snuff out any known weakness in his royal bloodline.  No elites would know about Tarble, or Vegeta’s unfortunate inclination toward Kakarot, or even his own weakness for Gine.  They would never know their queen had already succumbed to Frieza’s torment years ago, either.  King Vegeta would die with these secrets if he had to.

But he didn’t have to.

Gine grunted when she finally heard Vegeta’s footsteps from behind her,.  Too late to react, she roared as Vegeta swung his fist and struck her hard enough to land her on her backside.  As she crushed a mountain and several third class Saiyans beneath her weight, King Vegeta laughed.  He could already hear the whir of someone fast approaching.

“Vegeta!”  Bardock panted, catching his breath after the extraordinary effort he’d exerted to fly across the battlefield to Gine and the king. 

He’d left Seripa fending for herself, outnumbered, but he couldn’t stop himself when he saw Gine go down.  The king was going to kill her.  And he couldn’t rely on his useless sons to save their mother’s life.  As the king grunted, Bardock grit his teeth and clenched his fists.  He’d never fought against a Great Ape in this form before.  He didn’t imagine he’d be able to compete.

Smirking, King Vegeta turned.  “Bardock?  Well, it’s surprising to see you like this.  Weren’t you-ah,” King Vegeta said with a laugh as his eyes flitted behind Bardock.  “Lost your tail, huh?  Looks like this won’t be a fair fight after all.  But I’m ready.  How about you?”

As Bardock tensed, knowing he had to gather every bit of energy he could muster for this fight, King Vegeta’s grin widened.

“How about it, Bardock?” King Vegeta repeated.  “Are you ready to die?”

* * *

 

The crash against the mountain jarred Leeka from her place embedded in shards of rock.  She shook off the pebbles littering her shoulders and tried to push off the mountains, but she felt weaker than she’d ever felt.  Leeka grunted.  So this was what it felt like to take a hit from a Great Ape.  Leeka felt like her entire body had been blasted with ki, but the worst part of this was that she could hear the fighting around her.  She could see men darting through the sky around a Great Ape in the distance, but she couldn’t get out there to join them.  She cursed herself for not listening to Raditz earlier.  If she could transform now, she could get out of this situation.  But the mountain she was wedged into complete obscured her view of the moon.

A yell following a crash just below her made Leeka’s eyes bulge.  That was Raditz.  She looked down, straining to fight her fatigue and lower her vision to the ground.  Before she looked that way, the person below her was flying into the air.  She would recognize that mass of hair anywhere, even as it traveled away from her in a streak of white.  It  _was_  Raditz.  And he was joined by someone else.

Leeka grunted and repelled herself off the rock, slipping free of everything but one tight crevice encasing her ankle.  With a seething glare, she turned her eyes on her swelling joint, but she failed to move any further.  When Leeka looked up again, the Great Ape was closer.  Raditz was fighting Nappa beside Toma.  But neither of them looked so hot.  Leeka could see the tearing of their uniforms, the damage to their armor, and the blood covering their skin, even from this distance.

As Raditz sagged in the air and Toma struck a blast at the Ape which seemed to even fail to  _annoy_  the Ape, Leeka knit her brows.  They were going to lose if they kept that up, but there was no escaping from him.  Nappa had it out for Raditz.  He wouldn’t just let Raditz retreat from this fight.  Raditz was too stupid to back out anyway.

“Raditz!”  Leeka called him, even though it was futile.

She grunted and struggled again, forcing herself to gather all her energy so she could get out there and help.  But as she struggled, Leeka realized she would be no help, not against a Great Ape.  If Raditz and Toma were faring poorly, in Leeka’s battle-worn condition, she wouldn’t last a minute against Nappa.  She looked up at the sound of an agonized scream to see Raditz being pinched between the powerful, clawed fingers of the laughing elite.  As the tip of Nappa’s black claw neared Raditz’s face, Leeka screamed and again glared at her ankle.  She would blast the thing off if she had to.  Raditz was going to die.  She couldn’t stomach the thought of watching it happen.

“Raditz!”

* * *

 

Kakarot laughed as he punched another elite square in the jaw.  Some of them were easier to take down than he thought they’d be.  Some of them weren’t, but  _those_  were the fun ones.  As Seripa shoved past him, coming out of nowhere to toss a blast at the incoming elite woman looking ready to jump Kakarot, Kakarot flicked his hand at her in friendly salutation - sarcastically.

Even on the battlefield, Seripa was a bitch.

When Kanna screamed from behind a hoard of elites, Kakarot gasped and whirled in her direction.  His neck strained as he tried to look over the massive elites to see her, but he saw no trace of Kanna beyond her black spikes of hair peeking out from her ponytail and her hands pressing down on the heads of the wrestling elites.

Gritting his teeth, Kakarot flew forward.  Kanna was preventing them from looking up at the moon.  If any of them transformed, this fight wasn’t going to end well.

Kakarot balled his fists by his sides as he gathered power within both hands.  When he thrust both hands forward with a yell, the elites didn’t see it coming.  Their screams faded into oblivion as the blast passed through them, while Kanna grunted and darted to a lower elevation to evade the blast.

She flew up to Kakarot’s side, tossing her hair back.  “Thanks, Kakarot.”

Kakarot grinned.  “No prob-“

Kanna’s eyes narrowed. Her hand flew past Kakarot’s face as she let out a yell.  Kakarot froze, his eyes large as he chanced a sidelong glance at Kanna’s bicep only an inch from his face.  When she drew it back, Kakarot heard a deep groan from behind him.   

Kakarot made a furtive move to turn his head toward the noise.  There he saw an elite, young and handsome but sporting a swollen black eye.  The elite’s good eye made contact with Kakarot’s gaze before rolling back in his head.  When the elite began plummeting to the ground, Kakarot turned back to Kanna, grateful for the save.

Kanna smirked.  “Now we’re even.”

“Hey, you two!” Seripa’s voice grated on Kakarot’s ears from the distance.  “Quit your yapping and-“ she grunted as she kicked away an elite, “get over here!”

Kanna rolled her eyes.  “Better get back to it.”

As she bounded after her next opponent, Kakarot bent his knees, intent on following her into the fray.  His breath caught in his throat when he caught glimpse of something in the distance.  Something that made him still as his heart seemed to freeze in his chest.  Vegeta was down on the ground, knocked out.  Brolly was standing over him.

Kakarot gnashed his teeth as he watched Brolly on the distant battleground, taking another step closer to Vegeta.  “ _Move_ , Vegeta.”

Vegeta wasn’t moving.  Kakarot could feel Brolly’s power radiating off of him.  He was torn between the desire to jump in to stop Brolly and the instinct alerting him of how dangerous that could be – not from Brolly’s immediate retaliation, but from the aftermath he’d have to suffer at Vegeta’s hands.

Brolly stepped forward and raised his arm straight in the air.

Pressing his chin to his chest, Kakarot shot into the air, whirring toward Brolly and Vegeta.  He could tell by the minuscule cock of Brolly’s head that Brolly sensed his approach, but Brolly wasn’t deterred from his attack on Vegeta for even a second.

With a growl, Kakarot surged forward.  His thrust seemed to propel him faster, but he wasn’t sure if he was fast enough.  Brolly’s ki was sparking from his open palm.  All it would take from Brolly was a swift gesture of that hand and Vegeta would be finished.  Kakarot didn’t have time to gather the ki required to knock down someone like Brolly.  He put all his energy into the force of propelling himself forward instead. 

When he arrived at Brolly’s side, Kakarot’s eyes flitted to the light of the energy hovering above them, just before he rammed into the massive warrior head-first.  Kakarot grit his teeth at the collision, but even through his clenched teeth, he could feel a smile forming on his face.  They were moving, crashing to the ground together.  Brolly hadn’t killed Vegeta – at least not yet.  But as Kakarot’s face thumped against Brolly’s chest armor and a cry of rage came from the body beneath him, Kakarot knew this was just the beginning of this encounter.

* * *

 

Bardock darted to the ground, then immediately sprang into the air as King Vegeta’s massive boot stomped down where he stood.  The boot just missed him.  But at least it was coming after him and not Gine.  As he bounded off the side of a mountain, he noticed a tail swinging his way.  Bardock cursed into the air as he narrowly dodged the tail, the fur whipping his arm with a gush of wind.  As Bardock rocketed into the sky, he turned his head left and right looking for King Vegeta’s next move.  When he failed to spot the next swinging limb from the Great Ape, Bardock turned his head again, faster.

Something slammed into him.

Bardock groaned at the hard hit before darkness and warmth closed in around him.  His limbs were pressed against him, his lungs compressed to the point he could barely breathe, and only a sliver of light broke through the darkness of his imprisonment.  Bardock struggled to free himself from the crushing grip and screamed.  Imposing force quickly silenced him as an ominous laugh came from the Great Ape who held Bardock in his grasp.

King Vegeta watched his gloved fingers close around the third class nuisance.  Hearing Bardock’s screams of agony washed away in silence thrilled him.  In his hand, he could feel the resistance fading, the warrior losing his battle.  Heaving a breath of anticipation, King Vegeta crushed the peon harder.  Bardock didn’t struggle again.  King Vegeta would make sure he  _wouldn’t_  struggle ever again.

_From a sea of darkness, a blur of colors appeared to Bardock.  As the yellows and blues differentiated and took form, a ship became clear, hovering in Vegeta’s atmosphere littered by stars.  Behind it, the pale glow of the moon was swallowed by its massive size._

_As Bardock gasped, his vision changed._

_A face, soft with youth and full of angst.  Prince Tarble.  He lurched forward, as if reaching for something, and said, “I’m sorry.”_

_King Vegeta, returned to the form of man, his eyes twitching as he looked on at something Bardock couldn’t see.  Bardock gasped when he saw himself lunging in front of the king.  A red beam flashed across his vision before his vision-self let out an agonized scream, which filled the void of the darkness overtaking his vision before the scene changed again._

_A line of Saiyans stood side by side, as far as the eye could see.  It was a blur of faces familiar and unfamiliar, but the ones that stood out most to Bardock were Kakarot and Gine, standing by King Vegeta’s side.  As his eyes panned across the scene, Bardock’s heart thrummed.  In opposition to the Saiyans, across a vast expanse of land, stood a line of alien loyals of the Planet Trade Organization - they were standing behind Lord Frieza, whose ominous presence hovered above the battlefield._

As Bardock drew in a long gasp, his eyes shot open to reveal to him the dark, suffocating interior of King Vegeta’s clenched fist.  He could hear his bones snapping under the pressure, while the ones already broken throbbed and issued sharp pangs throughout his body.  Bardock struggled to free himself, but he was entombed in the powerful fist.  A massive tremor nearly shook him loose, and then another which was accompanied by a roar.  King Vegeta’s grip loosened, allowing Bardock to gulp the air he’d been denied as he fell the long distance to the ground below.  
  
King Vegeta was toppled over by the massive force of Ape rushing into him.  When his back hit rocky terrain, he wrapped his claws around the back of the Ape falling over him.  “Gine!”  
  
“Gine, no!” Bardock said in a strangled cry.

* * *

 

The first cut stung as Raditz recoiled from Nappa’s claw.  He tried to withdraw his face from the sharp edge as he grimaced and tensed, waiting for it to inevitably dig in deeper.  Raditz closed his eyes.  This was going to be it.  Even as longstanding team members, loyalties among Saiyans would never win out over bloodlust.  Nappa might regret this later, but for now, he was going to enjoy this kill and Raditz knew it.

As a roar which had been sounding in the distance drew nearer, Raditz opened his eyes.  He was surprised by the hesitation of the claw poised to tear into his flesh.  The roar sounded again, louder this time.  And it wasn’t coming from Nappa. 

Raditz hissed as the claw slashed across his face, leaving a deep gash from his cheekbone to his jawline.  He pressed his hand to the wound to control the bleeding as he looked up at Nappa.  The Ape had turned away to defend himself from an attack.  He’d released Raditz to fight off the Great Ape swinging both fists at his chest.

“Raditz!” Leeka cried as tears welled to her eyes.

“Damn!” Toma said as he darted to Raditz’s side and dragged him toward Leeka.  “Totapo!  That son of a bitch really  _is_  on our side.”

The Ape Totapo growled as he threw a fist into Nappa’s gut.  “I’m just surprised to find you weaklings still alive!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Raditz said with a cough. “Asshole.”

He had to wipe a drop of drool from his lip as he bent forward in the air.  The wounds he’d suffered were causing his stomach to turn.  He was losing too much blood.  Soft hands caressed his back and hips before pulling him upright.  Raditz turned his head to see Leeka’s beautiful, battle-worn face staring back at him. 

“We need to get you two healed,” Toma said.  “You’re no good to us like this.”

“Fuck that,” Raditz said with a wave, training his eyes on the wrestling match in which the two elite Great Apes were engaged.  “I’m not missing this.”

Leeka grit her teeth.  Raditz’s newly-torn wound was dripping from his face, all over his armor.  Judging by the way he was holding himself, she would bet she could knock him over with a tap.  She’d never seen his stance flag so horribly during a battle.  He had to realize the risk.  And yet he refused to heal.

“You asshole!”  Leeka slapped Raditz on the back, not bothering to hold anything back.

Toma chuckled as Raditz toppled into the mountainside.  Leeka was a spitfire.  She was a fine Saiyan woman.  She reminded Toma a lot of Seripa.  Maybe, if they all got out of this alive, one day the two of them could be shooting an offspring out to infiltrate a planet, too.  Toma raised his gaze to look around as Leeka and Raditz began arguing.  Judging by the state of the current battlefield, that opportunity was never going to happen for him and Seripa.  If things kept up like this, the Saiyan race was going to destroy itself.

* * *

 

Brolly’s war cry warned Kakarot of the coming attack, but too late.  He had suffered a succession of hits at Brolly’s hands and couldn’t seem to get a handle on this fight.  With every hit he took, he learned a little more about Brolly’s weaknesses, but knowing wasn’t enough.  He didn’t have the strength required to take Brolly down, not without having a chance to gather more energy.  He should’ve known better than to rush into a fight like this. 

With a growl, Kakarot swung his fist toward Brolly’s gut and instead of landing his fist in soft flesh, felt a punch to his gut that made his eyes bulge from their sockets as he heaved over Brolly’s massive shoulder.

As Brolly chuckled in his ear, Kakarot groaned, “Vegeta better appreciate this.”

“I’m sure he will,” Brolly said, “but not nearly as much as he’ll appreciate what I’m going to do with you after this is over.”

As Vegeta watched Brolly kick Kakarot’s face, sending him careening into a mountain, his fingers twitched by his sides.  He needed to get back in there.  Brolly was  _his_  fight.  Vegeta wasn’t going to let Kakarot take this from him, like he tried to take everything else Vegeta had to offer.

Arching his back and pulling his elbows in, Vegeta raised his head as he gathered his power.  “Brolly is mine, Kakarot!”

“Oh, no he’s not.”

The voice behind Vegeta startled him, causing him to flinch before looking back.  When he saw who’d addressed him, Vegeta let out a laugh.  That old man couldn’t be serious.  “And what?   _You’re_  going to stop me?”

Paragus narrowed his eyes and stepped forward.  He hadn’t come this far, made this great journey through space and taken the risks he had, to watch Prince Vegeta bring his son to an untimely death.  Brolly was his key to success.  He had one additional trump card under his belt of knowing of the little prince’s whereabouts, but that was for another time.  For now, he and Brolly needed to survive this war.  He needed to focus on taking the throne from King Vegeta.

“Brolly’s busy, Prince Vegeta,” Paragus said with a grin.  “But you can always run your problems with Brolly by me.”

Vegeta smirked.  “I’d rather run them  _through_  you.”

Paragus raised a palm, forming a ball of ki in it and holding it.  “Look around you, Prince Vegeta.  Look where your father’s rule has brought us.  It’s time the Vegeta line of rulers was brought to an end.  This planet deserves better.”

Vegeta snorted.  “Don’t make me laugh.”

Vegeta was confident he could dispatch of Paragus, and easily.  The only deterrent from toying with his new prey was the sound of Kakarot’s continued anguished cries in the distance.  Vegeta knew with every blow and every grunt he heard, Kakarot was losing his battle.  Vegeta could take out Paragus and then have Brolly all to himself once Kakarot was out of the way, but that thought unnerved him even more than the thought of allowing Brolly to take his throne.

It was all so frustrating.  Vegeta didn’t understand why he should feel this way.  He wanted to cast Kakarot aside and do whatever it took to gain control of power on this planet, but that wasn’t an option.  Something within him forbid it.  Growling to himself as he heard Kakarot scream again, Vegeta set his eyes on Paragus’ smug face.  He was going to have to make this quick.

Kakarot coughed as he crawled to his knees from his latest fall.  He watched his blood splatter on the ground as he struggled to get up and face Brolly again.  When he looked up, just past Brolly’s maniacal grin, he saw Vegeta was no longer alone.

Kakarot blinked.  “Who-“

Brolly’s fist hooked across Kakarot’s face, filling Brolly with glee as he watched Kakarot skid across the ground.  Every time he watched Kakarot fall, his enthusiasm for this fight spiked.  He’d never had such fun tormenting someone before.  Kakarot was a special case.  Brolly was thankful he had this opportunity to kill him slowly. 

Just short of shoving his foot into Kakarot’s prostrate gut, Brolly paused.  It was strange that he  _hadn’t_  been interrupted yet.  He was fighting Vegeta before Kakarot intruded on their fight.  Their prince seemed intent on killing him, too.  It was odd that he would step back.  Brolly furrowed his brows as he recalled what Kakarot had said just before getting knocked out again.  Had he seen something?  Brolly whirled around.

Paragus’ smirk widened as the energy in his palm grew and his eyes remained fixed on Vegeta’s.  He knew the prince was fast and powerful with a natural ability like no one on this planet aside from Brolly had ever shown, so Paragus needed to go in full power with this attack and not waste a second.

He grunted, his eyes going wide as he pulled back for the strike that would never come.  Vegeta grunted as he watched the unexpected blast of ki flash before his eyes, enveloping Paragus and his attack until it all dissipated to nothing.  With nothing left of Paragus, Brolly hovered over the ash-filled crater, grinning down at the scene of his latest kill.

Brolly laughed.  His father should’ve known not to interfere.  Brolly couldn’t let him kill Vegeta.  Prince Vegeta was  _his_  to kill.  Besides, this gave him the perfect excuse to rid himself of his father.  Brolly knew Paragus had grown useless over the past years.  He was too controlling.  Too demanding.  Brolly wanted no one to control him.  Instead,  _he_  would control.  This felt better; so much better.  Now, he was free of his father’s control.

With a hearty laugh, Brolly threw his hands into the air and raised his gaze to the invigorating moonlit sky.  A grunt sounded behind him before a shot of pain ceased his laughter.  He gasped as his eyes bulged and his limbs twitched with the pain coursing through them, emanating from his core.  Casting his gaze downward, Brolly saw a blood-coated glove protrude from his chest armor, turning over as Brolly’s insides churned.

Vegeta withdrew his bloody fist and marveled at it as he held it before his eyes.  He pushed on Brolly’s back, throwing the dying man to the ground as he licked his lips, pleased with himself.  He had taken down the so-called “legendary” Super Saiyan, as if that was what a freak like Brolly would ever become.  Slowly, Vegeta peeled off his gloves to rid himself of Brolly’s blood.  Hearing footsteps approach, Vegeta grunted.  He knew exactly who it was.

“Sort of a cheap shot, wasn’t it?” Kakarot asked.

“So I took advantage of his father-son moment,” Vegeta said with a shrug.  “He’s dead, isn’t he?”

Kakarot cocked his head, taking in the still-shivering form laid prone on the ground.  “I  _think_  so.”

“Good.”  Vegeta tossed his gloves to the ground and stepped over Brolly’s corpse.  He turned a glare on Kakarot.  “He’ll never touch you again.”

“Even if he was still alive,” Kakarot said, “he’d never touch me again.  I only want-“

Kakarot leaned into the prince until Vegeta shoved him away.  “Fuck off!  Now, who do I kill next?”

As Vegeta surveyed the scene with his back to Kakarot, Kakarot huffed.  He supposed the war  _was_  a little more important than his preference for Vegeta right now.  With a final glance, Kakarot frowned at Brolly’s body.  It was too bad he couldn’t have had a little more fun with him before Vegeta had to kill him off so quickly.  Kakarot owed Brolly for a few of those hits.  With a pout, Kakarot crossed over the corpse to join Vegeta, throwing in one last kick to Brolly’s side on his way.  When he extended his gaze beyond the mountains, in the opposite direction of the moon’s light shimmering down on them, he could see the clusters of fights continuing.  Even after the losses that had occurred, there were many Saiyans still in the fight.

* * *

 

Bardock couldn’t move.  He could only lay broken and battered on the ground and watch through swelling eyes as Gine sunk her teeth into the king’s tail.  The king, who was becoming more and more enraged and was certainly going to overpower her.  This wasn’t what Bardock had foreseen.  He wasn’t going to watch Gine die.  
  
“Gine!”  
  
King Vegeta threw Gine off of him and turned to sneer at Bardock.  “Shut up, Bardock!  I’ll finish with you after.”  
  
King Vegeta stabilized on his feet, panting as he turned his eyes on Gine again, who was already charging toward him.  He wanted Bardock dead, but Bardock was no threat to him now.  He would have to handle Gine before delivering the final blow to her broken husband.  It was a shame Gine had to go this way, not once, but twice now.  She could’ve had so much promise, if only she weren’t weak.  If only she weren’t third class.  If only she’d never attached herself to a lowlife like Bardock.  
  
When Gine plowed into him this time, Vegeta was ready for her.  Bardock grimaced as he watched the king sidestep her attack and seize her by the fur on the back of her neck.  When he tugged against Gine’s momentum, she let out an ear-piercing roar that caused Bardock greater pain than any bone fractured and crushed within his limbs.

* * *

 

When Kakarot’s eyes lit on two Great Apes wrestling each other to the ground, he seized Vegeta by the wrist.  Ignoring Vegeta’s scoff and tug to free himself of his grasp, Kakarot stared ahead.  His mother was fighting with the king.  He wanted King Vegeta dead now more than ever, but if he told Vegeta about what he was seeing, he still worried that Vegeta might side with the king.  Kakarot side-eyed his companion, who looked deep in his own thoughts.  If he believed his father’s claims about Vegeta being the one to kill the king, it was probably a good idea to lead Vegeta to his father.  Kakarot wondered what would cause Vegeta to finally betray him; whether Kakarot could be the cause of it.

Sensing Kakarot’s eyes on him, Vegeta rolled his eyes.  But he ignored the annoying sensation as he absorbed the violent spectacle surrounding him with a smile on his face.   _This_  was what their proud warrior race was all about.  Paragus had wanted Vegeta to look around him, as if he would find some mistake here.  Wasting perfectly good fighters was a problem, but it was a price to pay for this heated battle.  This meant  _everything_  to Vegeta as well as his people.  He could still feel the residual thrill of ripping through Brolly’s chest with his fist.  He smelled the blood in the air.  He felt the power surrounding him.  He sensed the enticing waves of the moon casting down on him.

Vegeta was loving this battle.  If it wasn’t for the loss of resources and the enemies outside their planet, he would hope this war never ended.

 


	18. Darkening

 

King Vegeta felt a thrill run through him at the impactful vibration.  The contact repeatedly made with Gine’s swelling Ape face carried so much power that it even hurt his fist.  It felt good to make her suffer.  She shouldn’t have survived to see this war in the first place.  
  
“Gine...” Bardock groaned.  
  
His outstretched hand could offer her no help.  His body, broken and crushed, was useless to propel him toward the oversized, overpowered king beating his weaker wife to a bloody pulp.  He could only watch the moving gigantic silhouettes blending in with the blackness of the night sky as the scent of blood flooded his senses and the sounds of her roars told him of her agony.  
  
“Bardock!”  
  
Bardock felt like something pierced his lung as he gasped and shot a glance over his shoulder.  It was Seripa.  
  
She landed at his side with a determined scowl on her face.  “You look like shit.”  
  
Bardock inspected the violet bruises highlighting Seripa’s jaw, the bloody gashes across her chest, and the dried blood caked into her dark, shaggy hairline.  He could say the same about her.  He grinned.  He couldn’t bring himself to be conversational.  Everything took energy, and he didn’t have much of it to waste.  
  
“Lucky for you,” Seripa said as she knelt by Bardock’s side and seized his arm in a painful grasp, “I know just the place to make you a little less shitty.”  
  
Bardock grunted as he was tugged to his feet.  His body nearly collapsed.  Embarrassingly, only Seripa’s support seemed to be holding him upright as he draped himself across her form.  Still, he struggled to look over his shoulder at the action occurring behind him.  “Wait!”  
  
“I’m not gonna lie, Bardock.  Shit doesn’t look good for Gine.  But she’s just gonna have to hold out on her own a little longer.” Seripa smirked.  “She’s a big girl.”  
  
As Seripa stepped forward, Bardock clutched her chest armor.  “No!”  
  
Seripa met Bardock’s gaze with a hard look.  “We can’t do anything for her.  Not like this.”  
  
 Bardock didn’t get another chance to look back.  The wind whipped across his face as he was dragged through the sky, Seripa clutching him to her side as if he was a heavy load of luggage rather than a person.  Bardock grimaced at the sound of another pained roar echoing from behind him.  
  
“I just hope it’s still there,” Seripa grumbled.  
  
Bardock looked down to see a mountainside drawing near enough to see the detailed lines of its surface and plant life growing from its crevices.  Or rather,  _they_  were desending toward the  _mountain_.  Bardock didn’t have a chance to ask about the gaping hole in the mountainside into which they were heading, not when Seripa slipped them right through it.  
  
“What...is this place?” Bardock asked as they were cloaked in darkness.  “What are we doing here?”  
  
“Toma and I discovered this place a long time ago.”  
  
 “Why haven’t  _I_  heard about it?”  
  
“Well,” Seripa said with a flinch as their feet hit the hard rock of the invisible cave floor, “we weren’t exactly supposed to be here at the time.”  
  
Bardock looked around as his eyes began adjusting to the darkness.  The walls weren’t only formed by the natural structure of rock, but manmade structures as well.  He saw the shine of silver as he absorbed the metal beams and walls surrounding them.  It was leading them to something - something seemingly meant to be kept hidden here.  
  
When Bardock’s gaze fell on a horizontal slab supported by rafters, he grinned.  “Great place for fucking.”  
  
“Shh,” Seripa said.  “Don’t tell anyone.”  
  
Bardock grimaced as a pain shot through his ribcage.  He clutched his aching broken bones.  “I knew you and Toma were fucking.  Did you actually think that was a secret?”  
  
“We-well I-“ Seripa stopped walking.  She huffed before pounding her fist against the wall in a decisive motion.  “We’re here.”  
  
Grinding noises announced the raising of an expansive wall, which seemed to cut the interior of the mountain in half.  Bardock couldn’t waste time being amazed by the mechanism or why it was here, though.  Not when the fully-lit facility behind it came into view.  Machines, including dozens of healing tanks, lined the walls of the massive room.  It all seemed to be functioning, as if the place was never left unattended.  Bardock couldn’t suppress the cough forced out by his caving lungs, but he still managed to express his awe with a strangled gasp.  
  
“Someone else is here,” Seripa said, panning her gaze across the room.

* * *

The mechanical groan of the opening door had been unnerving enough. In addition to that, Toma could still hear the sounds of the battle carrying on outside, keeping him and the others on edge.  But the cough he heard told Toma that someone else knew the reason behind this place’s existence.  Another wounded was incoming.  He thought he knew who had brought the injured party, but he couldn’t be sure.  He exchanged a glance with Leeka as he pushed a button, flooding her tank’s system with the healing Saiyan DNA she desperately needed.  
  
Then he shoved Raditz into the healing tank beside Leeka’s.  Raditz might’ve fought Toma if he hadn’t acted quickly.  Without those wounds healed, those two were good as dead anyway.  At least this way, they stood half a chance to aid the fight on their side.  Toma was sorry he couldn’t take the rest of them who needed this here.  The third class was struggling.  The elite were too powerful.  
  
“Toma!” Raditz growled.  
  
As Toma pursed his lips unapologetically from the other side of the glass shell sealing Raditz in the tank, Raditz shook his head and lurched forward.  In his weakened state, his fist rebounded harmlessly off the glass.  
  
Toma smirked at him.  “I’ll deal with it, Raditz.”  
  
“But who’s out there?  Idiot, if there are elites here to kill us, what good are you going to do meeting them alone?”  
  
“We’re not here to kill you.”  
  
At the sound of Seripa’s voice, Toma snapped his gaze to the doorway.  She was strutting forward with Bardock slung over her shoulder, looking like a miserable pair.  
  
Seripa’s eyes landed on Raditz.  “But that could be arranged, if you’d like.  You’re using my tanks.”  
  
“ _Your_  tanks?” Toma said with a snort.  
  
Seripa raised her brows at Toma, somehow managing to sneak in a quick wink that no one else managed to see.  He had no idea what the woman’s holdup was about letting others know she liked to fuck him.  Maybe she felt an admission like that moved her one step closing to publicly admitting she had feelings for him.  Toma didn’t care what the others thought.  If they both survived this war, he was going to make Seripa his wife, even if it required her kicking and screaming along the way.  Actually, he hoped she did.  
  
Seripa broke eye contact when Bardock groaned, “This is all a waste of time.”  
  
“Quit your whining,” Seripa said.  
  
“My father’s right,” Raditz added, scowling at the blue translucent fluid now rising to his chest.  “By the time we get out of here, we’ll be lucky the war hasn’t ended without us.”  
  
Bardock’s eyes shot open.  “It will.”  
  
Seripa balked as she thrust Bardock toward the final empty tank.  “Huh?”  
  
Toma crossed his arms.  “More visions, Bardock?”  
  
“Yes,” Bardock said, narrowing his eyes at Toma.  “Toma, we left Gine.”  
  
“I can see that.”  
  
“Is she going to die?” Raditz asked.  
  
“No,” Bardock said, shooting Raditz a quick glance.  “I don’t think so.  But Toma, if we’re going to heal here, I want you to go back out there and keep an eye on her.”  
  
Toma snorted.  “And I want a giant feast right here this minute.”  
  
“Toma!”  Bardock bared his teeth through the glass shell closing around him.  
  
Toma was prepared to argue with Bardock until Seripa stepped forward.  “Toma.”  
  
“Seripa,” Toma groaned.  He released a sigh as his gaze flickered to Bardock’s scowl.  “Of course I’ll keep an eye on Gine.  I was only fucking around.  Anyone else you want me to keep an eye on?  Kakarot?  Totapo?”  
  
Bardock exchanged a look with Seripa and Raditz as the tank’s cool liquid filled to his chest.  “No.”  
  
“Yeah,” Totapo said, turning with a wave.  “Too bad for them.  Those guys can look out for themselves.”  
  
Seripa frowned at Bardock as the liquid washed over his face and Toma turned for the open door.  She wondered why Bardock continued to worry about Gine so much.  She could clearly see it written on his face, even beneath his oxygen mask.  His prodigal son was in greater danger than her with that untrustworthy prince fighting by his side.  And Totapo could usually hold his own in the Great Ape form, but they left him fighting  _Nappa_.  His chances of survival weren’t good.  Yet Bardock’s worries remained solely centered on Gine.

* * *

 

Nappa leapt back with a roar.  His arm burned as Totapo’s ki blast singed his fur and began to melt the skin beneath it.  Quivering with rage, Nappa lunged fist-first to retaliate.  The rebound of Totapo’s jaw under the pressure from his fist was beautiful.  Nappa wanted to pummel that traitor into the ground.  King Vegeta had his reasons for this war, for the benefit of all elites.  Yet Totapo had jumped in to attack other elites, to protect Raditz and those other useless third class Saiyans.  He deserved to die just as they did.  Totapo was just another weak link.

“Totapo!” Nappa growled, drawing both fists above his head.

Nappa’s fists were bound together, his muscles clenched in preparation to draw down over Totapo.  Totapo grimaced, tensing for what would happen.  He knew at some point he would regret helping Bardock, but he’d expected that time to come long after this war ended, not in the midst of the battle.

As Nappa’s conjoined fists hammered down on Totapo’s head, Totapo raised his arms in defense.  
  
Totapo’s defensive reach wasn’t fast enough.

Pressure crushed down on Totapo, knocking him to the ground as his skull caved to Nappa’s fists. He roared as his body skidded across the rocky ground.  Rocks tore through his skin as he bared his teeth at Nappa stalking after him.  
  
“Nappa!” Totapo screamed.  
  
Nappa grinned, baring his fangs as he reared his fist back, preparing for a punch.  When Nappa sank his fist into Totapo’s unprotected abdomen, his smile brightened.  When Totapo screamed and his face contorted in pain, Nappa twisted his fist deeper into Totapo’s gut.  He was ready to go in for the kill.  Seeing that Totapo was such a traitor, this kill would be more satisfying than any kill Nappa had made since this war began.  Killing third class weaklings was easy. Killing another elite was invigorating.  
  
Totapo wheezed, seizing the air around him through means of his caving lungs.  His body couldn’t take much more abuse from Nappa’s attacks if he was going to survive this. Growling, he summoned all his strength to launch himself off the ground.  Nappa’s eyes bulged as Totapo enveloped his furry, armored body in his arms.  Just when Totapo was about to crush Nappa, sudden pain seized his tail.  
  
Totapo cried out.  He was forced to release Nappa in favor of protecting his violently tugged tail.  When he spun to defend himself, his claws slid against Nappa’s, just missing his tail sliding away from his body.  Totapo gasped when he glimpsed over his enlarged shoulder to see his tail twirling in the air, flagging toward the distant ground below.  His eyes immediately flew to the moon.  The invigorating sensation of its waves fled his body.  
  
“Totapo!”  
  
Totapo turned to the familiar voice, exchanging a solemn glance with Toma, who’d appeared just in time to witness his lethal mistake.  
  
“No,” Totapo breathed as he turned his eyes back on Nappa.  
  
Toma held his breath, clutching a fist to his chest as he watched Totapo lose his size with Nappa looming over him.  Getting involved would be too dangerous for Toma now, and too time consuming, as much as he’d like to take out Nappa himself.  Toma needed to find Gine.  He needed to see that she was alright.  Totapo wouldn’t want help from his third class comrade anyway, though it was clear to Toma that leaving Totapo now meant resigning him to his death.  
  
Totapo looked up at Nappa, who now stood far above him, nothing higher than his knee clear to Totapo’s view.  His energy was drained.  He was almost man again.  He heard the whoosh of Toma’s disappearance as he trained his eyes on Nappa.  In spite of his overwhelming exhaustion, Totapo was determined not to go down without a fight. 

Nappa’s knee lifted.  His foot shifted direction.  It fell, hard and swift.  Totapo leapt out of its path to avoid sharing the crushing fate with the rocks beneath Nappa’s massive boot.  
  
“No!” Totapo yelled as he dodged the tail swinging straight down on top of him like a whip.  He panted as he looked around, the next attack bound to come at any second.  
  
Nappa laughed.  He drew his knee into his chest, knowing this would be it.  That devious pest wouldn’t get away from him this time.  He wouldn’t even see it coming.  
  
He felt a rush as he dropped his foot right down on top of Totapo, hearing the stifled scream fade away as something squashed beneath his boot.  Nappa chuckled and drew back.  Totapo’s mangled body was revealed to him, crushed and coated in blood, making the elite almost indecipherable from the crags of brown and black rock surrounding him.  Nappa turned his gaze to the horizon, looking for the next traitor or third class to kill.  It was a shame Raditz had run off somewhere, though that didn’t surprise Nappa, seeing the coward he was.  
  
In his search for more victims, Nappa’s eye was drawn to a feminine figure streaking across the night sky.  He was tempted to chase after her, but when he saw where she was headed, he refrained from following her.  She was landing alongside Prince Vegeta and that troublesome third class, Kakarot, who Nappa would kill on the spot if he knew it wouldn’t incur the prince’s rage.  Nappa wouldn’t risk it.  Prince Vegeta could have that woman for himself.  After killing Brolly like he’d just done, the prince was probably ready for more blood.

* * *

Vegeta looked up, prompted by the quick movement in the sky which caught his eye.  It was another Saiyan approaching them.  Vegeta narrowed his eyes and stepped toward the woman.  When something stopped him, pressing forcefully against his chest, Vegeta balked.  His gaze followed the long arm connected to his chest to find Kakarot.  Vegeta bristled and let out a growl.  
  
“She’s okay, Vegeta,” Kakarot said.  “She’s with me.”  
  
Kakarot smiled at Kanna, whose dainty feet hit the pavement as she whipped her long ponytail over her shoulder and met Kakarot’s gaze with a seething glare.  Kakarot frowned.  He didn’t expect her to be angry.  
  
Vegeta snarled.  “Is she?”  
  
Vegeta only wanted to kill this attractive woman, with her long dark hair, slender legs and batting lashes  _more_  now, knowing she had come for Kakarot.  Vegeta tore Kakarot’s hand from his armored chest as his other hand balled into a fist at his side.  
  
“Kakarot!” Kanna yelled so abruptly that Vegeta hesitated to act on his planned attack.  “How can you be so stupid?”  
  
“Me?”  
  
“ _Yes_ , you!” Kanna said, approaching them.  “You should’ve  _known_  you had no chance going head to head with Brolly.”  
  
Kakarot pursed his lips.  “You don’t know that.  I could’ve had a chance.”  
  
“To defeat  _him_?” Vegeta chortled, too amused by Kakarot thinking so highly of himself to mind the third class woman’s presence any longer.  “No one but royal blood could’ve stood a chance against the legendary Super Saiyan.”  
  
Kanna crossed her arms and squinted.  “Brolly wasn’t a Super Saiyan.  He was just a really powerful, hot asshole.”  
  
“Hot?” Kakarot said.  
  
“Like  _you_  didn’t notice.”  
  
“Kanna!” Kakarot hissed, side-eyeing the prince to gauge Vegeta’s anger.  The last thing Kakarot needed was  _that_  reminder being thrown in Vegeta’s face at a time like this.  
  
“He  _was_  a Super Saiyan,” Vegeta growled.  “I  _know_  the legend is real.”  
  
“I hope he wasn’t,” Kakarot said with a frown.  “You killed him with one lousy sneak attack.”  
  
“Who are you calling lousy?” Vegeta snapped.  
  
Kakarot’s eyes bulged at the ferocity in Vegeta’s voice.  He stepped back, brushing shoulders with Kanna.  The apologetic smile he offered Vegeta seemed to do him no good.  
  
“C’mon, Vegeta,” Kakarot crooned.  “You know I’d never call  _you_  lousy.”  
  
Vegeta’s breath caught in his throat, the berating he wanted to give that fool - for addressing him so casually, for doubting Vegeta’s power, for questioning the greatness of the Super Saiyan legend - never coming.  With the way Kakarot had addressed him in that husky voice, Vegeta felt himself melting.  His anger subsided against his will to be replaced by another emotion.  Instead of words, Vegeta let out the most formidable growl he could muster.  His eyes narrowed when they darted to the woman.  
  
“P- _prince_  Vegeta,” Kakarot amended as he stepped in front of the wide-eyed woman.  
  
Kanna gasped.  She sensed the threat hanging in the atmosphere, but she was the only one in danger.  If Kakarot had anything to fear from Vegeta, he’d be dead already.  Kanna set her gaze on Kakarot’s impassive expression - and stared.  
  
“Well, uh,” Kakarot said, licking his lips, “I think we’ll go find more people to kill.  C’mon, Kanna.”  
  
When Kanna didn’t immediately follow him into the air, Kakarot tugged her by the armor.  Hard.  He couldn’t leave her behind with Vegeta in this mood.  She should’ve known to hurry and get her ass out of there.  Instead, as they flew forward, she lagged behind him, her faraway gaze remaining unnervingly fixed on Kakarot’s face.  
  
Kakarot snorted.  “What are you staring at?”  
  
“Your head,” Kanna said, shaking hers.  “I’m surprised it’s still attached.”  
  
Kakarot laughed and turned his gaze to the horizon in search of enemies.  
  
Kanna whirred through the air to press against Kakarot’s side.  “Really,  _how_  do you get away with that?  You didn’t even use his title!”  
  
“He likes me.”  
  
“I’ve seen people killed for not  _bowing_  to him deeply enough.  You get away with murder.”

Kakarot grinned.  “Yeah.”

His gaze shifted straight ahead, where the dark horizon appeared to be drawn by moving silhouettes.  The enormous forms shifted enough for him to realize they were not mountains, but Giant Apes.  When they plunged into each other, Kakarot gasped.  As he and Kanna flew in closer, Kakarot realized those weren’t just any Great Apes.  It was the king…and his mother.

He sought Kanna’s gaze.  “Kanna!”

“Your mother!  She’s still alive.”

“She’s amazing!”

“She won’t be for long,” Kanna said with a grimace.  “King Vegeta looks like he’s ready to move in for the kill.”

“No!  He won’t!” Kakarot said, shooting forward with a blinding haze of white enveloping him.

Kanna frowned.  She bit her bottom lip as she watched Kakarot disappear into the distance ahead of her.  She didn’t want to get into that fight, but she couldn’t just hover back here and do nothing while Kakarot went into the skirmish alone.  With a grunt, she powered forward.

* * *

 

King Vegeta shivered.  The trill sound of Gine’s roars morphing into screams which echoed across the dark valley pleased him tremendously.  It was so right, seeing her bathed in her own blood, her moistened fur glimmering in the moonlight as drool dripped from her jagged teeth.

Vegeta had been so invested in her torment that he hadn’t been paying attention to the figures flashing through the surrounding sky, invested in their own fights.  Yet he paused mid-punch, sensing that someone was approaching him.  King Vegeta turned, tensing as Gine thumped into him from behind, wrapping her broad arms around his chest and  _squeezing_.

Three figures were approaching, geared directly for them.  One on the ground, pressing a finger into a scouter, two in the air.  The elite warrior on the ground was insignificant.  It was the two flying together toward him, screaming Gine’s name that caused King Vegeta to bare his teeth.  Still trapped in Gine’s arms, Vegeta stepped forward.  When he stepped again, he stomped right on top of the Saiyan who had been calling for his king’s attention.  Vegeta knew, in spite of the fact that the little man’s voice hardly carried over the great distance between them, that his subject had been screaming with some urgency.  But it was no matter.  Whatever the nameless face had to tell him couldn’t be more important than snuffing out Gine and her rapidly approaching spawn.

Kakarot.

Vegeta sneered as he recognized the features of the man’s face drawing near, the man who would destroy his heir first by reputation, and later by other means, if Vegeta didn’t step in and do something about this.  Vegeta tried to shake Gine off his back, but she held firm.  Her strength seemed to have increased, as if even in her monstrous, brainless form, she recognized her son’s approach and aimed to protect him.  Scoffing, Vegeta wrestled her again.  When that didn’t work, he drew his elbow back into her abdomen repeatedly until she heaved over his shoulder.  The feel of his confinement drifted away.  Vegeta set his gaze on the two drawing near with their arms raised in preparation for attack.

* * *

 

When Kakarot flew away from him, Vegeta watched.  He remained where he stood, prepared to jump into any part of this battle which offered him an opportunity.  Studying his potential opponents had its benefits.  Yet Vegeta noticed his eye being repeatedly pulled in Kakarot’s direction.  Every time he saw him flying away, Vegeta was relieved that nothing more was happening between Kakarot and that woman.  Vegeta groaned and raked a hand over his face.  He needed to get a hold of himself. 

Kakarot had nothing serious going on with that woman.  He had Vegeta.  He couldn’t possibly have feelings for anyone else.

A roar pierced the silence of Vegeta’s nearby surroundings as it echoed off the nearest mountainside.  Vegeta turned his eyes from Kakarot to look toward the approaching Great Ape.  When he recognized his most loyal crew mate, Vegeta cocked his head.  He grinned.  This was the perfect opportunity to announce which side of this war he’d chosen.  Of course he’d choose the side which would land him in the throne when this was over.  With Brolly gone, that side was the one fighting  _against_  his father.  How better to prove his rightful rule to the lower class than to start by taking down his father’s right-hand men?  Nappa was loyal.  If Vegeta demanded it, he would willfully play this part of Vegeta's pawn.  But Vegeta wasn't going to ask.

Smirking, Vegeta let his tail unfurl from around his waist and wag behind him in the gentle night breeze.  “Hello,  _Nappa_.”

* * *

 

Toma watched Prince Vegeta shoot into the sky toward the elite Great Apes.  He knew the prince joining them couldn’t be good for Toma’s side.  Bardock and the others had to be healed right about now.  But Bardock’s leadership seemed questionable.  Bardock seemed out of it when Toma left him.  Maybe it was his injuries making him lose his reason.  Maybe he’d seen something in his visions that really had altered his plans.  

Toma knew what he was seeing now, but he couldn’t believe it.  His eyes bulged at the bewildering sight.  Prince Vegeta was  _attacking_  the elites.  Scratching his head, Toma turned his gaze in the other direction, where the king stood poised to attack two Saiyan warriors flying toward him.  Those weren’t just any Saiyans warriors.  It was Kanna and Kakarot.  Toma’s gaze darted back to the younger Vegeta to see the prince maiming the loyal guard positioned right behind Nappa.

Toma’s lips parted.  “I’ll be damned.”

Kakarot  _had been_  the key all along.  Whatever he’d done to influence Vegeta, he’d made an impact probably no other Saiyan could ever make in turning this war in their favor.  Toma doubted anything could’ve changed the outcome more drastically than destroying the legendary and placing the  _prince_  on their side.

* * *

 

As Kanna narrowed her eyes and evaded a blast shot at her from the overgrown king, she noticed she had trouble seeing the blast.  The darkness surrounding it seemed to be swallowing it up, as if the night was sucking all the light from their environment.  Kanna furrowed her brows and looked toward Kakarot, noting he too had faded into indecipherable features.

“Kanna?” Kakarot said, sounding just as confused as she felt.

King Vegeta paused.  His attack had missed the third class woman completely.  That shouldn’t have been the case.  Even with Gine pummeling his back with her clumsy attacks, he shouldn’t have missed.  His eyes hurt.  He felt like he was weakening all of a sudden.  He placed his hand to his chest, noting the slackening of his muscles, the sense that his massive store of energy was drawing from him.  He looked toward the moon again, feeling a need for the power of its waves.  The sky looked black, until finally Vegeta noticed a sliver of curved yellow light in the sky.  That sliver was not round and vibrant as their moon  _should’ve_  been – and it was shrinking.

As a confused roar sounded from his mother, Kakarot gasped.  Reluctantly, he turned his eyes to the sky, in search of the moon.  Something was wrong.  He would risk the transformation to know what was happening.

Vegeta stopped sharply in midair.  The Giant Ape guard ahead of him, the one ready to bow to him even after he’d attacked their companions, began to change before his eyes.  It wasn’t only Nappa, but the entire landscape around them which was changing.  Vegeta’s eyes bulged as he watched a wave of darkness creep over the battlefield.  He snapped a glance over his shoulder.  What he saw hanging in Vegeta’s atmosphere, obscuring the full moon which should’ve empowered and transformed him, made Vegeta tremble.  It was horrifying.  It was too soon.  They weren’t ready for this!

Vegeta shook his head.  “What’s  _he_  doing here?”

* * *

 

His mother and the king were shrinking before Kakarot’s eyes.  As he surveyed the scene surrounding him, he realized all Saiyans who had transformed were reverting to their previous forms.  The moon’s waves were gone, leveling the transformations, which was exactly what the captain steering the PTO ship would  _want_  when he chose that position in the sky.

“That’s-that’s Lord Frieza’s ship,” Kanna said.

Kakarot nodded.  This couldn’t be good.  Freiza couldn’t have known about this civil war, could he?  Kakarot looked where he’d last seen his father, but he had no idea where the old man was now.  He hadn’t seen him  _or Raditz_  in a while.  When he looked down below, he only saw unfamiliar faces of baffled Saiyans who had all ceased fighting to stare at the ominous threat hovering in their sky, and the collapsed bodies of the Saiyans returned to their previous forms, unconscious on the ground.  His mother was safe down there, even with King Vegeta by her side.  When the king woke, he would be too busy answering to Lord Frieza to bother with her.

“What do you think he’s doing here?” Kanna asked, a quiver in her voice as her hand clasped around Kakarot’s wrist.

“I don’t know,” Kakarot said, his eyes never leaving the rounded blue orb with a halo of gold surrounding it.  It had taken place of Vegeta’s moon, no doubt containing within its massive hull an army as great as the entire Saiyan race.  It inhabitants, no doubt, were taking in the result of the devastation which recently occurred on this planet.  “But this can’t be good.”

* * *

 

As dubious murmurs and gasps seemed to fill the air of the battlefield, Vegeta flew toward Kakarot and his father.  Nappa and the other elites  _weren’t_  the ones he needed to stand by when Frieza showed his ugly face.  He needed to be near his father, prepared to address the tyrant as a member of the royal family, proud to represent this planet.  Showing the third class he was ready to be king was  _nothing_  compared to showing Lord Frieza.  The third class might try and take his throne with a rebellion like this war, but Lord Frieza would destroy the entire planet if after Vegeta took the throne from his father, Frieza deemed him unworthy to control this army.

When Vegeta swooped in by his side, Kakarot cast him a half-hearted smile.  He was quick to turn his gaze back to the ship, where Vegeta’s gaze was already focused as if he didn’t have a thought of consideration for Kakarot.  But Kakarot knew better.  The ship slowly spun, its doors remaining shut.  Down below, the people rose into the air to join the ranks of the Saiyans already flying on their guard. 

“I don’t like this bastard arriving unannounced like this, Kakarot,” Vegeta said.

“I don’t either,” Kanna agreed from Kakarot’s other side.

* * *

 

Gine rubbed her eyes, finding focus when her eyes landed on King Vegeta’s handsome, beaten face.  She was ready to attack him, not knowing how they got here or what had transpired to make her so tired and sore, but the king’s intense focus on the sky caught her attention.  Gine climbed to her feet as she followed Vegeta’s gaze.  When she looked up toward the dull hum overhead, she could see why the king was scowling.

Gine gasped.  “Frieza?”

Ignoring her, the king raised his voice toward the sky, where three figures hovered overhead.  “Vegeta!  Make sure our men are ready!”

As the prince gestured, directing wordlessly to someone behind him, the king growled and clenched his fists by his sides.  Gine was relieved to know those fists weren’t meant for her any longer.  She clenched hers by her sides, biting the inside of her cheek.  Even as she felt the desire to take advantage of this moment of the king letting his guard down, she couldn’t.  She knew they needed their king now more than ever.  The very man who was trying to cause their end was now their best chance for survival.

King Vegeta cast Gine a sideways glance as with a gentle hiss, the ship’s hatch slowly fell open.  “This is  _not_  going to be a peaceful visit.”

 


	19. Limited Options

 

As fluid drained from his tank, Bardock’s eyes snapped open.  He tore the mask from his face.  “He’s here!”

Raditz opened his eyes to meet his father’s gaze, as well as the eyes of everyone around them.  Leeka and Seripa seemed just as surprised as Raditz felt about his father’s sudden outburst.  Raditz scanned the massive chamber surrounding them to see that no new face had arrived. 

“Bardock,” Seripa said while the liquid evaporated from everyone’s healing chambers, “who’s here?”

“No one’s here,” Leeka said.

“Not  _here_ ,” Bardock groaned, stepping out of the tank and tossing his mask aside.  “On Planet Vegeta.”

“We’re  _all_ ,” Raditz said with a scowl, “on Planet Vegeta.”

Bardock cast Raditz an exasperated glare.  Frieza was on Vegeta and no one in this room but Bardock knew it.  But he’d felt the vibrations at his feet.  He’d sensed it coming since long before Frieza’s arrival and had been anticipating it since seeing the ship in his vision.  This meant that not only was Frieza here with his men, but if Bardock’s visions were correct, Prince Tarble had returned.

Seripa turned her gaze on Bardock, furrowing her brows.  “Bardock, are you feeling all right?  Do you need more time in the tank?”

“I’m fine!” Bardock snapped as he stormed out of the tank, ready to tear it from its base and toss it aside if its impact would get through to these three.  “It’s everyone out  _there_  I’m worried about!  We need to go!”

“Of course we need to go,” Leeka said with a glare and her hands set on her hips.  “There’s a war out there!  We haven’t forgotten!”

“Idiots,” Bardock said with a scoff.  “You don’t understand!”

Raditz stepped forward, raising a hand to stop his father from moving toward Leeka.  “If there’s something we should know, just  _tell_  us for fuck’s sake!”

“Lord Frieza is out there!  And if we don’t get out there right now, he’s going to kill King Vegeta.”

Raditz’s jaw dropped.  He saw Leeka’s tightened jaw go slack as Seripa shifted back on her heels and crossed her arms.  He couldn’t believe Lord Frieza would arrive at Planet Vegeta  _now_.  That tyrant hardly ever visited the planet in the first place, but to do so while they were in the middle of a war – it definitely rang suspicious.  Yet if Frieza was here to kill King Vegeta, if  _that’s_  what his father had envisioned-

Leeka braced her hands on her hips.  “Is that so?  Great, then.”

Seripa and Leeka balked when Bardock growled at them.  “We  _need_  King Vegeta, or Frieza’s men will kill us all.  We’re already weakened by this war!  You think the elites are going to fight alongside us?”

Raditz pursed his lips.  “If  _Prince_  Vegeta steps forward and commands them to-“

“He won’t have a chance to do that,” Leeka snapped.  “If the king dies, it’ll be chaos.  Lord Frieza would take the opportunity to attack before Prince Vegeta had a chance to unite us.   _If_  he  _would_  unite us.”

Bardock’s eyes narrowed.  “Prince Vegeta’s not the only one who can do it.”  As the others looked to Bardock, confusion etched on their faces, Bardock clenched a fist and turned for the door, his muscles coiled to spring forward.  “Move it!  We’re wasting time.”

As Bardock darted toward the door, Raditz knit his brows.  He hesitated only a moment before deciding to follow his father out of the healing facility.  He felt stronger than ever, and though what his father was suggesting somehow horrified him  _more_  than the genocidal war already occurring between the classes of their planet, Raditz felt too much of a thrill to encourage any growth of that fear.  He wanted to know what other surprises his father was hiding, as Raditz knew he was bound to unveil soon enough.

* * *

 

As the ship descended on the battlefield, dust whirled through the air, propelling from the base of the massive ship.  Saiyans in the most inopportune positions directly below its base scattered for safety.  It wasn’t the ship itself they had to fear, but the people who would emerge from its open hatch. 

King Vegeta clenched his jaw as he stepped forward and brushed the battle dust from his shredded armor.  A bead of sweat trailed down his temple.  Lord Frieza was here for  _him_ , he knew it.  Orchestrating an all-out war against his own people was not something King Vegeta wished to flaunt in front of the overlord.  But now Frieza knew.  The question was, what would Frieza think of this?  Vegeta slicked his hair back and brushed more dirt from his armor, a splatter of blood spreading across his royal crest and smearing his white gloves.  A figure emerged, backlighted by the ship’s interior lights.  The familiar contours of Frieza’s horns and separate, equally defined silhouettes flanking each of his sides were unmistakable.  As the figures stepped forward to join the Saiyans on the battlefield, King Vegeta fell to one knee and bowed his head.

As everyone fell to one knee around him, Kakarot hesitated.  He was just lowering his knee when he noticed a peek of black hair behind Lord Frieza.  He was used to seeing Zarbon, Dodoria and other aliens with the tyrant, but none of them had dark hair, spiked like a Saiyan’s.  Kakarot almost hadn’t noticed the other person, who was short enough for his hair to barely peek over even Lord Frieza’s short stature, but with Frieza in that rotund hoverchair of his, the fourth person in Frieza’s group remained almost completely hidden.

“Kakarot,” Kanna hissed from the vicinity of his elbow.

“Get,” Vegeta growled from his other side, “ _down_.”

Kakarot grunted, his surprise likely evident on his face when Frieza’s red eyes turned his way.  He prepared to kneel, but then his eye caught sight of movement in the sky beyond the mountains bordering Frieza’s ship.  More Saiyans were coming.  It was strange that any Saiyan should head directly  _for_  Lord Frieza.  Kakarot furrowed his brows, trying to make out the vague silhouettes of the figures who approached in the dark sky.

With a growl, Vegeta punched Kakarot in the calf.  The moron was going to get them all killed because he couldn’t follow a simple order.  If he, the  _prince_ , had to bow, Kakarot damn well better get down on one knee.

When Kakarot finally fell with a holler of pain, King Vegeta rolled his eyes, careful to keep his head down so Frieza wouldn’t mistake his expression as disrespect aimed toward him.  Vegeta swallowed, the air seeming thick around him and the lump in his throat not letting him feel any relief.  He could see his fingers, spread across the ground, vibrating the soil around them as they trembled against his will.  The stretch of silence was torture.

“King Vegeta,” Frieza’s voice broke the silence with a conversational drawl, “I seem to have interrupted something here.”

King Vegeta shook his head.  “No.  It’s no interruption at all, Lord Frieza.”

“Really?” Zarbon said.  “And I was about to be offended we weren’t invited to the party.”

“It’s not too late, Zarbon,” Dodoria’s wretched voice croaked.  “We can still have a good time here if Lord Frieza wants to stay!”

“We didn’t come for a good time,” Frieza snapped.

Vegeta clenched his jaw and chanced a fleeting glance toward his father.  He heard footsteps land softly, somewhere behind them, but whoever had just arrived from the distant skies was of no concern to him.  The sharp change in Frieza’s tone was the all-too-familiar warning that Frieza was about to get to the point.  And it wasn’t going to be something anyone here liked.

“King Vegeta, rise,” Frieza said, tittering as the king slowly raised his head.  “All of you, feel free to stand.  You Saiyans flatter me.”

Zarbon sneered across Frieza’s shoulder to Dodoria, “and I thought they were only uncivilized monkeys.”

“They’re  _not_?” Dodoria said.  “Could’ve fooled me after the spectacle we just witnessed.”

As Zarbon and Dodoria shared a laugh, Frieza did his best to hide his smile, but he had to admit, his companions made very accurate observations.  With his eyes set on King Vegeta, Frieza tapped with the tip of his tail a sharp reminder on the shoulder of the monkey restrained behind him.  It was time to shock the king of this pathetic race of barbarians.

“Vegeta,” Frieza said with a grin, “it seems I’ve uncovered your dirty little secret.”

“Lord Frieza,” Vegeta said, licking his lips and holding his head high under the scrutiny of his people.  “This chaos between my people, it has no bearing on the Saiyans’ ability to conquer planets for you.  We will continue to deliver just as before.”

Zarbon raised a brow and cast his gaze across the horizon.  “With fewer men, apparently.”

 “I don’t like being deceived, Vegeta,” Frieza said before sneering and waving toward the bloody battlefield.  “This here is a nuisance, but no secret.  What I want you to explain is  _this_.”

Bardock grasped Raditz’s shoulder, knowing what was coming.  When Frieza’s nod prompted Dodoria to reach behind Frieza’s hoverchair, Bardock bit his lip.  His eyes darted to King Vegeta.  The king was standing in just the place Bardock had seen in his vision.  Bardock released his grip on Raditz and stepped forward, careful not to draw any attention to himself while the others gasped at the face being revealed to them.  The Saiyan prince stumbling forward to stand between Lord Frieza and King Vegeta had captured everyone’s attention.

Vegeta’s mouth gaped as he looked up, his eyes landing on his little brother.  The brother who was supposed to be banished, who was never meant to be returned to this planet, let alone discovered by Lord Frieza and returned here, was standing right in front of him.  Vegeta bared his teeth.  If there weren’t so many people around to come between them, he’d blast the little pest right here for causing this embarrassment.

Tarble reached forward, knowing no one was in need of an explanation more than his father.  He hadn’t wanted to return like this.  He hadn’t planned to return to Vegeta at all.  The last thing he wanted was to be used as a tool against his father by Frieza.  But it was too late.

In the gaps between his outstretched fingertips, Tarble took in the shocked face of his battle-worn father.  “I’m sorry.  Father, I never meant-”

Frieza tugged Prince Tarble by his armor, cutting off what was sure to be a heartwarming speech.  Frieza didn’t have time for sentimental nonsense.  He was sure even the other Saiyans wouldn’t appreciate it.  The young prince had been carrying on with pointless gibberish for the past few days spent on Frieza’s ship.  Fortunately, Frieza didn’t have to hear it firsthand.

 “Tarble,” King Vegeta whispered.

Frieza narrowed his eyes at the Saiyan king.  “Was this an effort to start some underground rebellion?  Was the little prince supposed to do his part from his distant post, I wonder?”

“What?”  King Vegeta unglued his eyes from Tarble’s face to furrow his brows at Frieza.  “No.”

“I know how your little monkey brains work,” Frieza drawled, narrowing his eyes.  “You thought you could rebel against me?  You and your  _pathetic_ race!  You can’t even keep it together within your own ranks.  How would you survive without me?”

Vegeta grit his teeth and glared at the dirt.  His father wasn’t handling Frieza the way Vegeta would handle this problem, and it was getting out of hand.  The tyrant thought so highly of himself, of course he assumed Tarble’s exile had everything to do with revolting against the PTO and nothing to do with the weak-hearted fool Tarble was.  Vegeta looked up to see Frieza standing before his father, panning his gaze across the decimated lands surrounding them.  All their father had to do was tell Frieza the true reason for Tarble’s exile, but for some reason, the man could do nothing but keep his twitching eyes locked on Tarble’s solemn face. 

Frieza sneered.  “What a wasteful planet.  What is the meaning of all these lost soldiers? My commodities are being laid to waste without my say-so, Vegeta.” 

King Vegeta seethed in silence, keeping his hatred to himself.  His lip wanted to pull back to bare his teeth to the man who dared tell him how to run  _his_  planet of proud warriors, but he knew refuting a single word Frieza said would seal his own death sentence.  Vegeta felt it bound to come, but every second he survived was another second he could be in the presence of his lost son looking eager to beg forgiveness.

“I don’t accept failure from any king under my command,” Frieza said, tapping a pointed black nail against the lip of his hoverchair.  “You have failed me for the  _last_  time, Vegeta.”

Frieza’s finger flicked up from the hoverchair.  Before Kakarot could follow Frieza’s movements, a red glow was already sparking from his fingertip, aimed for the king of all Saiyans.  Kakarot’s mouth gaped as King Vegeta let out a scream, which was swallowed by someone else’s scream.  Something flashed across Kakarot’s vision and blocked his view of the king.  Kakarot shot to his feet.

Bardock didn’t know  _what_  he was doing.  He knew what the vision had shown him, but risking his life for King Vegeta was almost as bad as risking his life to save Frieza’s.  Yet he continued forth with his yell and lunge into the path of Frieza’s incoming fire, knowing his vision must’ve meant that King Vegeta’s survival was necessary to win this war.  Without even the opportunity of seeing the blast and anticipating what was coming for him, Bardock felt a searing pain tear through his shoulder.

Gine’s jaw fell as she watched Frieza’s blast shoot through Bardock.  Her heart raced rapidly, as if she was undergoing the transformation again, even with the moon hidden from sight.  But there was no transformation.  Her blood was racing through her veins because Bardock was in danger.  When Bardock fell to his knees, blood spurting from his wound and spraying onto the ground at King Vegeta’s feet, Gine clutched a fist to her chest to secure her pounding heart in place.  She choked back a scream as Bardock’s scream died off and his head hung so she could see nothing behind his black mass of hair.

“Bardock!” Gine yelled.

“B-Bardock,” King Vegeta gasped.

His brows knit together as he watched Gine fall to her knees by Bardock’s side.  The blast meant for  _him_  had been received by Bardock.  King Vegeta couldn’t understand it.  Bardock should’ve enjoyed the opportunity to watch him die, here by Lord Frieza’s hand, in front of all of his people.  Instead, he’d jumped in the way – to protect his king.

Gine’s chest heaved when Bardock raised his head to look at her.  A sudden wave of emotion overwhelmed her when his eyes met hers.  Bardock was alive.  He’d scared her worse than she’d ever been frightened before.  He’d done it to save the bastard who’d been taking advantage of her, who wanted their son dead, who wanted them  _all_  dead.

Rearing her hand back, Gine slapped Bardock’s shoulder.  “Dammit, why did you do that?  Are you crazy?”

Vegeta furrowed his brows as he watched Kakarot’s mother fawn over Kakarot’s father’s injury.  His eyes quickly darted to Frieza, who was momentarily stunned by the absurd interaction.  As Frieza stared blankly at Gine putting pressure on Bardock’s wounds, Vegeta assessed the situation.  When Zarbon met his gaze with a smirk, Vegeta frowned.  They were all good as dead if something didn’t happen fast.  It was only a matter of time before Frieza decided to strike King Vegeta again, which would leave Vegeta himself as Frieza’s primary target.  He couldn’t let it come to that.

King Vegeta worried his bottom lip with his teeth and took a step back.  His eyes darted to Bardock momentarily, but he pushed aside any questions or appreciative feelings for Bardock to focus on the current threat.  There was no question now.  His elites would be outnumbered by Frieza’s powerful forces.  There would be hundreds in that ship, as Frieza always kept on hand, including his most powerful men like Zarbon and Dodoria.  King Vegeta gulped and cast a sideways glare at Kakarot standing by his son.  He needed the third class now.  He needed every last Saiyan to defend their planet and their race, or they were all going to die.  The other Saiyans knew that too, as Vegeta could see by the ranks stepping forward, appearing from their hidden locations among the rubble.  Even the third class, who seemed completely incompetent in recognizing their own shortfalls, were ready to fight by their king’s side, at their king’s command.  The one thing all Saiyans had in common, aside from a warrior’s pride, was their thirst for survival.

Prince Vegeta bit his lip as his eyes turned from his father to Frieza.  He’d had enough of this oppression.  It was time the Saiyan race end their slavery under Frieza’s tyranny.  Tarble’s burning gaze caught Vegeta’s attention, to his disappointment.  Vegeta scoffed, turning his eyes from his worthless brother, before casting them back on him.  It was Tarble who led them here now.  Frieza wouldn’t even  _be_  interrupting this war if Tarble hadn’t made his location evident, Vegeta was sure of it.

Vegeta narrowed his brows.  “Do you see all the trouble you’ve caused?  You’re so  _pathetic_ , Tarble.  You can’t even succeed at keeping your head down.”

Tarble felt a twinge of guilt.  Dodoria’s sharp nails dug into his arm as the large man held Tarble in a crushing grasp.  Tarble cringed and gulped.  He was ashamed, whether this was really his doing or not.  He’d attempted to live his days quietly on the obscure planet where he landed, yet someone had come to find him.  It didn’t come as a surprise to  _him_  that he would eventually be discovered, but he supposed his father and brother had different ideas.  Now once again, he was nothing more than a stain on their reputation.  He was only making matters worse, continuing to be held like this, continuing to allow Lord Frieza to use him against his planet and his family.  Tarble’s frown deepened as he attempted to meet his brother’s gaze, but Vegeta refused to acknowledge him this time.  He might not have had the drive to fight like the others, or the same power as most elites, but Tarble did have Saiyan pride.  He did have the pride of royal blood.  He refused to be cause for the downfall of his entire planet.  Yet, judging by what he saw all around him when he arrived here, his father and brother had been doing a pretty good job of that themselves without needing his help.  Tarble didn’t like what he saw here at all.  Saiyans fighting against Saiyans was pointless.  If he had to come home at all after his banishment, this wasn’t the planet to which he wanted to return.

Meeting Vegeta’s gaze, Tarble clenched his jaw and pressed the flat of his palm to Dodoria’s side.  When the fat man flinched, Tarble forced out all the energy he could muster, straight into Dodoria’s abdomen.

The blast blinded everyone in the immediate vicinity.  Gasps and screams were swallowed by the roar of the explosion, as Dodoria scattered into pieces, showering the people who could do nothing but dive for cover.

As the dust settled, Frieza remained perfectly still, though on the inside, he was a torrent of rage.  He ignored Tarble scrambling over that meddling Bardock to reach his father’s side.  He ignored the bloody flap of pink blubber dangling from the edge of his hoverchair as he panned his glare on the line of Saiyans.  He ignored Prince Vegeta casting contemptuous glares at him, as if the little prince was ready to spit fire at Frieza’s slightest move.  He ignored the cocky third class Saiyans gathering together in solidarity, who seemed too keen on the inevitable fight to recognize the imminent danger about to crash down on them.  Frieza held enough power in the tip of his finger to blast away the core of this planet in an instant.  He could feel it bubbling to the surface now, fueled by his anger.  He always hated this filthy race.  But if he could preserve their lives and destroy their willfulness, they’d still have a purpose.  Frieza clenched his fists, biting his bottom lip until he tasted blood.  He dug his fingertips into his palms, narrowing his eyes at King Vegeta.

Bardock’s eyes widened as Zarbon’s hand waved in the air, signaling the inhabitants of the ship behind him.  One soldier sprang from the open passage behind Zarbon and Frieza, clad in armor and a scouter, with a ray gun propped at his side, followed by others armed to the same degree.  Bardock gulped and clung onto Gine’s fingers pressed against his bleeding chest.  This was it.  Aside from expecting King Vegeta to die, Bardock didn’t know where it went from here.  He almost  _wished_  to be inflicted by another vision.

“Bardock,” Gine whispered, training her gaze on Lord Frieza,” we better get you out of here.”

“Healing tanks.”  Bardock grunted.

Gine stood, pulling Bardock with her “Huh?”

“In the mountains to the east,” Bardock said with a nod.  “Take me there. I’ll heal so I can fight.  You could use it, too.”

Gine met his gaze with a frown, her eyes simmering with emotion.  Bardock forced a tight smile, though he sure as hell didn’t feel like smiling.  He only smiled because it mattered to Gine.  He didn’t want to give her an excuse to hesitate.  He wanted her to get out of here before the violence erupted.  It was a miracle Gine had survived the first wave of war.  He couldn’t see her surviving a second battle.

Kakarot turned his gaze from his parents as Gine rose, clinging to Bardock.  His attention needed to be on Frieza now.  Frieza’s men weren’t that strong.  With Dodoria taken out and Prince Tarble joining King Vegeta’s side, Kakarot thought the Saiyans stood a chance.  Even with the odds against them, he was excited to see what he could do against Frieza’s men.  Maybe even Frieza himself.

Sheer will was going to get them through this.  Fortunately, Prince Vegeta had plenty of it.  He could take out Frieza’s peons, starting with Zarbon.  He’d wanted to blast a hole through that snide freak for a long time now.  He couldn’t  _wait_  for someone to make the first move.  They’d be sorry for ever underestimating the prince of all Saiyans.

As Gine withdrew behind a mass of boulders with Bardock, seemingly free from the enemy’s notice, Bardock let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.  He wrapped his arms around his wife, who flew them into the air, following his directive.  As a war cry rang out, Bardock refused to look back at the battle.  The blasts and screams wouldn’t lure him.  He only clutched tighter to Gine, who didn’t say a word either as they listened to the mayhem fading behind them.

Bardock knew the Saiyan race had to survive this.  They had to fight, not only to survive, but to finally put an end to their enslavement under the Planet Trade Organization.  These were the visions Bardock had seen long ago, the ones he’d anticipated coming to light ever since the third class’ strength had started gaining.  This war was bound to be fought  _sometime_  – only he’d never been prepared for it to happen now, in the midst of King Vegeta’s self-destructive agenda. 

As Gine cut through the air, bringing Bardock to the mountains where he’d have the chance to heal again, she saw Bardock chance a glance at the flashes of war they were leaving behind.  Gine hoped the others would survive.  Thankfully, they had the power of the elites joined with the increased strength of the third class soldiers fighting back there.  Frieza’s soldiers wouldn’t account for the way the third class’ power had grown. The Saiyans would take Lord Frieza’s weaker soldiers by surprise, just as Prince Tarble had taken Dodoria by surprise. 

The Saiyans  _would_  survive.

* * *

 

Smoke danced around the debris and corpses littering the battleground Planet Vegeta had become.  Frieza rested in his chair, watching it all from above his ship, where he’d refrained from engaging in the fight.  He’d wanted his men to destroy the Saiyans, but to his surprise, they seemed incapable of that task.  Even his best man, Zarbon, was struggling with the stupid simians.  Wiping blood from his eyes, Zarbon looked from the crowd of bloodthirsty elite Saiyans closing in on him to meet Frieza’s gaze.

“Lord Frieza,” Zarbon pleaded.  “This is a disaster.  These monkeys  _can’t_  be this strong!  They’re taking down your entire battalion!  With your help, I can destroy them and they’ll never trouble you again.”

Frieza felt his lip curl into a sneer.  To say he was displeased with these forces would be a horrific understatement.  The panic in Zarbon’s eyes and Zarbon’s current predicament failed to appeal to Frieza’s sympathies.  His men had failed him.  Perhaps the Saiyans were stronger than they let on.  They could prove a  _great_  asset, being able to take down trained and powerful PTO men like that, and  _after_  already being battle damaged in a war of their own.  The men who failed to defeat these Saiyans were weaklings who deserved to die.  If Zarbon really needed Frieza’s help here,  _he_  deserved to die, too.

Frieza pressed his chin to his chest as Zarbon absorbed a punch from a particularly overzealous Saiyan, his eyes never leaving Frieza.  Frieza’s brow raised.  “With  _my_  help?  I thought it was you who worked for me, Zarbon.”

After another Saiyan punched Zarbon in the kidneys, dropping the alien to his knees, the other Saiyans moved in.  Frieza’s eyes remained locked on Zarbon’s dilated pupils as Zarbon’s screams rang through the air, until Frieza could lock eyes with Zarbon no longer, his face blocked by the flailing arms and boots converging on him.  The energy behind the Saiyans’ vicious attack was enthralling.  Frieza was losing a valuable man, perhaps his  _most_  valuable, given that Dodoria had been taken from him today as well.  And yet he felt intrigued by this display of power.  Pursing his lips, he turned to King Vegeta.  The Saiyan king was bloody and bruised, but still stood with his shoulders back and head held high.  So much like a royal king.  So much like a proud Saiyan.  The moron had no idea what an insignificant pawn he was in the grander scheme of things.

“Well King Vegeta,” Frieza drawled.  “It looks like I’m due for re-staffing in my organization.”

King Vegeta tensed, his fists clenching in front of his face as he bared his teeth at Lord Frieza.  For so long, they’d fought here.  Frieza never engaged.  He didn’t lift a finger.  Having his direct attention  _now_  felt like his time was finally over.  Vegeta had seen Lord Frieza kill men before.  If Frieza wanted Vegeta dead, he would be dead before he even knew what happened.

Frieza sighed.  “It looks like you’ve proven yourselves for now.”

“W-what?”

“You heard me.  You and what’s left of your miserable species can replace the soldiers you just killed.  I need a new leading force.”

Vegeta drew his fist back from the expired corpse he’d been pummeling for the fun of it and turned to look past his father at Lord Frieza.  Being offered the position of Lord Frieza’s leading force was an honor.  This was a rare opportunity.  Most would believe the Saiyans foolish to refuse.  But given the current circumstances, Vegeta believed this was a trap.  Nothing good could come of being  _closer_  to Lord Frieza.

King Vegeta knew what this meant.  Agreeing to Lord Frieza’s offer meant succumbing to Frieza’s will.  It meant not only sacrificing the pride of his people, but the entire purpose behind this battle meant to strengthen his army, meant to cut out the weak links in the Saiyan race, meant to lead them to a successful rebellion against this tyranny they’d endured for far too long under Frieza’s Planet Trade.  It was an offer to accept the continuation of their slavery with open arms, under Frieza’s direct watchful gaze.

 _Refusing_  Lord Frieza’s offer meant imminent death, most certainly for himself, but also likely for the rest of the Saiyans.

Knowing his only choice was to live, King Vegeta tightened his jaw and met Frieza’s self-satisfied gaze.  He took a deep breath as his eyes locked with Tarble’s.  He never thought he’d see those eyes again, but to look upon them and recognize that look of betrayal in his son’s eyes was perhaps worse than what he had to do now.  In all his years spent tolerating diplomacy as a king, Vegeta had never had to swallow his pride so horribly, especially not in front of the eyes of such a vast audience.  When his eyes darted from Tarble to Vegeta, King Vegeta had to quickly look away.  He cast his eyes at the ground before closing them to force away the lingering image of his heir’s utter look of contempt.

When his father fell to his knee, Vegeta sucked air through his teeth.  He felt his teeth grinding, but his feet felt glued to the spot where he stood.  Every fiber of his being wanted to lash out and  _kill_.  He wasn’t sure whether it was Frieza or his father he wanted dead, but someone had to hang if this was actually going to happen.  He hadn’t worked for everything he had now only to end up the ruler of a disgraced, once-proud warrior race.  When his father looked to Frieza’s smug face with compliance in his eyes, Vegeta felt the air knocked from his lungs.  His world crashed around him.

“We’d be honored,” King Vegeta said, pausing to swallow down the lump in his throat, “Lord Frieza.”

As Frieza grinned, a painful sight to bear witness to, Tarble could only shake his head.  He had to believe there was some greater reason he’d been returned home and spared Frieza’s wrath.  He knew part of his survival was due to the fact that he served as a decent pawn against his father, but Tarble realized he was more likely to be dead by now.  But he wasn’t.  Still, he couldn’t see what good he could do for his people.  As a prince of Vegeta, even a banished one, he felt responsible for correcting his father’s devastating error.  Tarble could only look on with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as Frieza’s hoverchair receded into the glowing outline of his ship’s open doorway.

“Of course you will be,” Frieza said with his eyes set on the king of all Saiyans, whose spiky-haired head lowered under the weight of his gaze.  “I'm being more than generous.  If not for my timely interjection, you and your people could’ve  _destroyed_  each other.  But I can’t hold that against you.  I suppose this stupidity is par for the course with a small-minded race such as yourselves.”

An alien soldier, battle-weary and panting, limped to Frieza’s side.  “Lord Frieza?”

“Oh,” Frieza said with a cock of his head, his eyes going wide, “you’re still alive?”

“Yes,” the soldier huffed.  “What are your order-“

“I suppose I just announced them,  _didn’t_  I?”

“I-I don’t understand.  The Saiyans-?”

“You and your men failed, Captain,” Frieza said as he turned his glare on the soldier.  “You’re being replaced.”

The soldier’s red eyes went wide.  “No!”

The blast had happened before Kakarot even swallowed the gasp of air he was inhaling.  He trembled as he watched the soldier collapse to the ground, half his body severed from the rest.  Kakarot’s eyes immediately darted to Frieza as he regained his breath.  His eyes narrowed as he closed his gaping mouth.  He always knew what a monster Frieza was, but he’d never had such up close and personal witness to it.  His own men.  Sure, there were Saiyans Kakarot would kill on a whim if given the chance, but in all fairness, they were just as likely to kill him for less suitable reasons.  Frieza’s men obeyed him, respected him,  _sacrificed_  for him – only to be killed for being substandard to other warriors.  Frieza was worse than King Vegeta.  Kakarot wanted nothing more than to be as far from the tyrant as possible.

“Now,” Frieza said, casting his eyes upon the disbelieving Saiyans, “I’ll dock my ship and spend the night here and tomorrow, we’ll settle things.”

King Vegeta nodded out of desire to send Frieza away as quickly as possible.  He didn’t want to know Frieza’s meaning of ‘settle things’, but he certainly wasn’t prepared to test him now.  Perhaps a night of recuperation would give Vegeta the time he needed to conjure a new strategy, some way the Saiyan elites could still come out on top and find their place in ruling this universe.  When the airlocks hummed and Frieza’s departure became evident, a gust of air brushed against Vegeta’s face to announce the ship’s movement.  Vegeta let out a long exhale.  He knew what he was planning was only wishful thinking.  Nothing could be accomplished against Frieza in this short amount of time. 

He was trapped.  His race was more doomed now than ever.

 


	20. Sworn

 

Kakarot burst through the door of his home, looking left, right, and left again to find no trace of anyone.  No shadows, no movement, no lights in the house, save for the red haze of dawning light streaming through what remained of their kitchen wall. 

Growling, Kakarot clenched his fists.  “Dad!”

“He’s not here.”

Kakarot turned to see Raditz coming in behind him, with Leeka by his side.  He looked past his brother, but saw no one else with them.  He needed to find his father.  He needed an explanation.

“Raditz,” Kakarot said.  “Where is he?”

Raditz frowned, his eyes surveying the interior of their home.  “I don’t know.  He flew off with Mom when the fighting began.”

Kakarot narrowed his eyes, recalling his father’s injury.  “They went somewhere to heal.”

Raditz raised his brows, knowing now where his parents had gone.  His father would return to that hidden healing facility in the mountains.  But Kakarot didn’t need to know that.  Kakarot was supposed to be their savior here, and yet here they were.  Waiting for the morning to fully break, for Frieza to announce his orders, for all of them to continue their servitude under the Planet Trade.  Only this time, it was worse.  Frieza would keep them under his thumb,  _waiting_  for any Saiyan to make one wrong move.  King Vegeta had become his puppet.  Their king was no longer intent on destroying the lower class, but instead with the entire race united against a common enemy, he was now useless to protect any of them.

“Oh,” Leeka said, “then-“

Raditz shoved his elbow into Leeka’s side.  He didn’t need her to divulge his father’s location to Kakarot.  He wanted answers from his brother.  He wanted to know what Kakarot intended to do about this, since their father was so deadset on believing Kakarot would be their savior.  Kakarot just wasn’t  _thinking_  hard enough.

As Leeka cast Raditz a glare, Kakarot scowled at his brother.  “His visions are always right, aren’t they?  So why’d he mess up this time?  Why is King Vegeta still alive?  Why is Prince Tarble back?  He never told us about this!”

“I don’t know!”

“How  _could_ we know?” Leeka snapped, her glare shifting from Raditz to Kakarot as she crossed her arms.  “Your father’s about as cryptic as a Neasean pirate.”

“Worse,” Raditz said with a nod.

Kakarot growled.  In his frustration, he kicked the nearest piece of furnishing, sending his mother’s favorite table careening into the only wall still intact following the elite’s destruction in this neighborhood.  His father wasn’t around.  There was no one here to give him answers.  His brother and Leeka were useless.  If anything, it seemed like they expected answers from  _him_.  Kakarot didn’t have the answers.  But he sure as hell didn’t want to lie down and let Frieza fuck them over again.  He wouldn’t stand for this.  He knew  _Vegeta_  wouldn’t stand for this.

Kakarot gasped.  “Vegeta!”

“Prince Vegeta?” Raditz stepped forward.

As Leeka exchanged a glance with Raditz and Raditz opened his mouth to speak, Kakarot pressed two fingers to his forehead.  He disappeared from the hazy atmosphere of his third class home before Raditz could reach for him or question him further about what he was thinking.  When Kakarot reappeared in the blackness of a foreign room, he chuckled silently to himself.  Those two had to be shocked, wondering what had become of him back there. He hadn’t shared this technique with anyone but his purge team yet.  Instant transmission was the method he’d used to arrive in the palace unseen the first time around.  Kakarot didn’t see any reason for it not to work out the same way for him this time.  He narrowed his eyes and concentrated again.  He’d sensed Vegeta’s presence somewhere around here.  But right now, he had no idea where  _here_  was.  He couldn’t see a thing but utter darkness.  He couldn’t  _hear_  anything, either.  But it smelled like vegetables and cardboard, with hints of metal and a hint of…Vegeta.

With his eyes closed, Kakarot extended his hand forward and followed the sensation of Vegeta’s powerful presence.  When his fingers touched on a solid surface, he explored the physical item with his touch, finding it flat and lukewarm, hard…until he reached a rounded protrusion.  Kakarot curled his fingers around the cold metal and twisted.  A beam of light filtered through the crack expanding in the open doorframe and Kakarot slid his eye to its edge to get a peek of what was outside this apparent storage closet into which he’d transported himself.

Voices caught his ear, muffled and distant.  Kakarot chanced opening the door a crack wider to take a sidelong glance down the long narrow hall.  Across the hall, he recognized a door decorated by the royal crest at its top edge and elaborate carvings portraying battle scenes around its frame.  He could sense Vegeta’s energy pulling him in that direction, too.  That had to be where Vegeta was.  But the voices were drawing nearer from the other direction.  Noting two figures angled toward each other in conversation, Kakarot pressed the door shut, concealing himself completely before he could be spotted.  After the door pressed flush against the wall, Kakarot recognized the speaking voice as King Vegeta’s.

“You can’t let your guard down, Tarble,” Vegeta said as he approached the entry to the royal chamber.

Tarble frowned at his father.  “No.  I’ve already learned where letting my guard down can lead me.”

“A wise lesson, I’d say,” King Vegeta said, stroking his beard as he met Tarble’s disconcerted gaze.  “You can learn a great deal from your mistakes.”

Tarble crossed his arms and stopped just outside the royal entrance.  “So why haven’t  _you_ yet?”

“Tarble,” King Vegeta said in a harsh whisper, casting sidelong glances down the hall for any signs of guards.  “You know I had no choice.  Lord Frieza is more powerful than any of us could ever imagine.  Only a Super Saiyan-“

“Do you really believe in that legend?  Besides,” Tarble said with a shake of his head, raising a hand at the sight of his father’s narrowing eyes and tensing jaw, “I’m not talking about Lord Frieza.  You started most of this trouble with your small-minded intolerance.”

“Of the third class?  Tarble, they’re scum!  They’ll never amount to anything but scum.”

“How can you possibly know that?”  Tarble rubbed his chin.  “Maybe one of  _them_  could be a Super Saiyan someday.   They  _have_  grown stronger, stronger than any of us ever would’ve imagined possible.”

“Stronger than  _you_.”

“True,” Tarble said curtly.  “But I’m not here to be the strongest.”

“This is why I sent you away.  What am I going to do with you, Tarble?”

Tarble sighed.  “I guess we disappointed each other equally.  My lack of strength and your asinine ways of leading this planet from being the proud race it  _could_  be, if only its people were united.  Now look where we are.  You’ve doomed us all to Frieza.”

“You have no room to speak,” King Vegeta said with a sneer.

“And this isn’t my responsibility.  Lord Frieza might’ve arrived here sooner because of me, but he would’ve put you in your place eventually.  You think if the third class were exterminated and our small population of elites fought Frieza’s forces, you’d ever have a chance against him?  You’re fooling yourself.  Vegeta  _needs_  its third class people.”

“ _Only_  as cannon fodder for the greater battle,” King Vegeta growled.  “Go to bed, Tarble.  I’ve had enough of you for tonight.  If I have to look at your presence in this castle a minute longer, I might follow through with my original plans and finally do with you what I should have done in the  _first_  place.”

King Vegeta slammed his palm into the slightly ajar door by his side.  He ignored the crash that followed as he stormed down the royal hall, too irritated to question what all the noise was about.  His son was a remarkable disappointment.  Tarble had a lot of nerve to claim disappointment in his father.  He should’ve never returned here. King Vegeta decided, as he reached his private chamber door, he would demonstrate his power and reliability to Frieza first thing tomorrow by finally doing away with his useless son.  At least then, he could evade the risk of putting Vegeta in danger.  He would gladly sacrifice Tarble over his one heir with potential.

Tarble stood frozen, watching his father’s billowing cape disappear behind the curve of the wall as he turned into his bedroom.  He had a bad feeling.  He knew it was dangerous for him to be here.  If he’d had the chance to remain on the planet full of peaceful little aliens where he’d been sent, he never would’ve left.  He could only blame that ornate ship that had passed overhead months ago on the fact that Lord Frieza knew where to find him.  He hated whoever was responsible for drawing him back here.  And he hated his father.

“Ass.”

The muffled remark from behind the door sealed behind him made Tarble turn, quirking a brow at the oiled oak.  He furrowed his brows, realizing someone had to be inside that storage closet, though he couldn’t imagine how or why.  With his eyes locked on the doorway, Tarble reached for the knob and tugged the door open in one swift motion.  A figured moved in the darkness, his features hidden as Tarble narrowed his eyes at the familiar silhouette.  Tarble had been prepared to attack, but instead crossed his arms and relaxed.  He would recognize that silhouette anywhere.  It was either Kakarot or Bardock.  He could  _guess_  which one.

Kakarot’s eyes widened as they adjusted to the light flooding his dark hideout to see Prince Tarble’s face looking in at him.  He was found.  He was in trouble.

“Kakarot.”

Gritting his teeth, Kakarot gulped.  “Shit.”

“You’re trespassing.  And I believe I just heard you make a disparaging remark about your king.  That’s treason, you know.”

“I wasn’t talking about the king.”

“Oh, no?  I heard you.”

Kakarot’s eyes narrowed, gleaming with the reflection shining through the open doorway.  “Maybe I was talking about you.”

“Well, that’s a shame,” Tarble said, putting his hands on his hips.  “I was just about to let you sneak past to see Vegeta.”

“You were?”

Tarble grinned.  He knew Kakarot would confess his reason for being here.  Those two were so predictable around each other.  Tarble was inclined to let Kakarot pass, if only because of how much he knew his being with Vegeta angered their father.  Yet he had an opportunity here.  Cocking his head, Tarble absorbed Kakarot’s features as he swung the door wide open, dousing the third class Saiyan in light.  He could definitely see what attracted Vegeta to Kakarot, with that powerful form, his height and those piercing black eyes.  But Tarble had to steel his resolve.  He wouldn’t let Kakarot’s casual, alluring stance or bunching muscles beneath his armor affect him.

“Now, I’m rethinking that,” Tarble said, barring his arm across the doorway.  “I wonder what my condescending brother would think of me if I killed his lover.”

Kakarot balked.  “What?”

“I could easily justify it,” Tarble said, peering into the closet.  “With you trespassing here and how my father hates you, I have every right to strike you down right where you stand, and you can’t make a move against me, the prince, here in the palace, unless you have a death wish anyway.”

“Prince Tarble, you don’t want to do that.”

“Win my brother’s respect?  Of course I do.  Maybe then, I won’t have to worry about being exiled again.”

Surprisingly, Kakarot’s head cocked to the side as a smile eased across his face.  “You know Vegeta’s being an asshole when he acts like the only thing he respects is murder.  He respects  _power_ , Tarble.  If you want his respect, show him your strength.”

Tarble lunged forward, seizing Kakarot by the lapel of his armor.  “ _Prince_  Tarble, third class.”

When his eyes met Kakarot’s, up close and dilated, Tarble released Kakarot’s armor just as suddenly as he’d seized it.  This wasn’t right.  This wasn’t him.  He wouldn’t become someone else just to impress his brother, or even his father for that matter.  Kakarot was right.  Both his father and his brother were assholes.  Tarble wouldn’t bend to their desires in the same way his father bowed to Frieza’s will.

Tarble pressed his back against the doorway, casting his gaze toward the ground.  “Go, Kakarot.”

“Go?”

“To Vegeta’s chamber.  First door on your right.  Your secret’s safe with me.”

Uneasily, Kakarot stepped forward, stopping at Tarble’s side.  “You sure?”

Tarble nodded, unable to meet Kakarot’s gaze.  “This planet’s going to hell anyway, right?  I might as well be true to myself until we reach the end.”

“Well,” Kakarot said, cracking a grin that sent a shiver through Tarble’s body, “if we’re going to hell, might as well go out with a bang.”

Tarble nodded as Kakarot passed, rolling Kakarot’s words over in his mind.  When he looked up to see Kakarot practically springing towards Vegeta’s chamber, his eyes went wide.  His brother was in for a pleasant surprise.  But maybe Kakarot had the right idea.  Tarble turned toward the vacant hall, scratching his head.  He needed to get laid.

* * *

 

Vegeta couldn’t sleep.  Not with the threat of Frieza’s hostile takeover looming overhead, or his disappointments of a father and brother sleeping in nearby rooms.  As he tossed and turned, he could’ve sworn he heard his door creak.  But that was impossible.  No guard would dare to enter his chambers.  His father and brother practiced too much etiquette to break it now.  As Vegeta closed his eyes and pressed his face into his pillow, he suddenly recalled that Frieza was still on this planet.  His eyes shot open as he whirled toward the door.  Someone was right in his face.

“Vegeta!”

“Kakarot?” Vegeta gasped.

Kakarot caught the hand that swung toward his head.  He wiped the grimace from his face the instant his eyes caught Vegeta’s, barely glistening in the darkness.  The prince’s scent surrounded him in this bed.  Kakarot breathed it in as Vegeta’s hand relaxed in his grasp.  He’d come here about something having to do with answers, but he couldn’t remember what he intended to ask.  He was too distracted by the temptation of  _Vegeta_.  Kakarot leaned forward, heading lips-first for Vegeta’s face, regardless of what feature they would find.

“Idiot,” Vegeta snarled, pulling his hand free and recoiling his face from Kakarot’s approach.  “Someone will see you.”

“Someone already has.  Doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t  _matter_?” Vegeta spat.  “I hope you like your head on a spike.”

Kakarot licked his lips and cupped a hand around Vegeta’s groin.  “I like  _your_  head in my mouth.”

“Kakarot,” Vegeta breathed.

“Didn’t that battle excite you today?  Don’t you want to do something to release the tension?”

As Kakarot’s hand massaged his flaccid length and testicles with teasing strokes, Vegeta clenched his teeth.  “Kakarot.”

Kakarot pressed his lips to Vegeta’s neck, breathing in the prince’s scent.  “C’mon.”

“You-“ Vegeta gulped as he placed a hesitant hand on Kakarot’s broad chest.  “You didn’t come here to talk about more serious matters than  _this_?”

“Me?” Kakarot laughed.

“You’re right,” Vegeta said with a smirk, sliding his fingers beneath the straps of Kakarot’s armor.  “What was I thinking?”

Kakarot sealed his lips around the hollow of Vegeta’s clavicle, his moist tongue licking at the skin burning for his touch.  Vegeta gasped and tossed his head back.  There were plenty of serious matters floating in his head, but Kakarot’s presence turned them into a blur.  Maybe this was why Vegeta was so drawn to him.  He was the one person who could relax Vegeta, even in the direst of circumstances.  He forced Vegeta to forget about the responsibilities of a prince of Saiyans, if only for a while.

“K-Kakarot,” Vegeta pleaded, curling his fingers around the loosening straps still hung over his lover’s shoulders.

With one final lick, Kakarot separated his lips from Vegeta’s neck to shrug the armor over his head.  He hurried to peel the elastic uniform off his chest right after.  The prince’s nightclothes were soft and flimsy, so much so that Kakarot was able to tear his top off with a single, effortless flick of his wrist.

“You moron!” Vegeta snapped.  “Do you know how expensive this fabric is?”

“Sorry, Vegeta,” Kakarot said, crawling over the prince.  “Does this mean I can’t rip off your pants?”

“No,” Vegeta said, his teeth flashing in the darkness as he cracked a smile.  “But I can tear into yours.”

Kakarot gasped as another tear ripped through the quiet of the room.  Cool air hit his skin before Vegeta’s warm, calloused palm cradled his ass and squeezed.  Kakarot moaned and caved into his lover, pressing their bare chests together, relishing in Vegeta’s warmth.

As Kakarot moved, creating delightful friction against Vegeta’s body, Vegeta massaged the taut muscle bunched in his hand, drawing Kakarot into him even closer with every squeeze.  When their burgeoning erections pressed together, the smooth skin like silk against his growing desire, Vegeta bit his bottom lip and groaned.  Kakarot was absolutely perfect like this.

“Vegeta,” Kakarot panted, before pressing their lips together, “I want to fuck you.”

“Don’t waste your breath stating the obvious,” Vegeta grumbled.  “Get on your knees.”

Kakarot pulled back, taking away the contact of soft, moist lips.  “But I want to fuck  _you_.”

 “You come into  _my_  room,” Vegeta growled, his bottom lip quivering.  “Get on your knees and obey your prince!”

“Vegeta!”

Vegeta wrestled Kakarot off of him, pushing against the sinewy chest as he tried flipping his lover to the other side of the bed.  Kakarot fought him, using his advantageous position to bear his weight down on top of Vegeta.  Baring his teeth, Vegeta punched Kakarot in the stomach.  When his lover buckled with both hands wrapped around his stomach, Vegeta drew closer, pressing his lips to Kakarot’s exposed neck and once again reaching around to clutch the muscular ass into which he couldn’t wait to plunge his cock as deep as possible.

As Kakarot gasped for air, spittle falling from his lips onto Vegeta’s shoulder, Vegeta licked Kakarot’s neck and slid his hand to Kakarot’s soft tail, soothing his lover with smooth strokes.  “Do you always have to make things so difficult?”

Kakarot let out a strained laugh.  “Yeah.”

“Don’t worry,” Vegeta said as his fingers glided to the base of Kakarot’s tail and down into the crease of his ass, seeking the warm orifice.  “I’ll make this feel good.”

As Kakarot trembled in his grasp, Vegeta realized he’d accomplished exactly the effect he wanted on his lover.  The tension was melting from Kakarot’s body, making him like clay in Vegeta’s hands.  Vegeta stretched across the bed, pressing Kakarot face-down into the mattress as he reached for the oil on the bedside table in one smooth motion.  As Kakarot let out an anticipatory moan, Vegeta hesitated, shivering at what that sound did to him.  He slicked the oil between the cleft of Kakarot’s ass, and then moved his hand to touch his rigid shaft.  He licked his lips as the smooth, warm sensation of friction glided over his sensitive skin.  It was only a portion of the friction he’d feel once he was enveloped in Kakarot’s tight heat.

“Vegeda,” Kakarot said, his words muffled by the pillow pressed against his face.  “Don’ hold back.”

Vegeta tossed the oil aside, smirking as he set his gaze on the curves of Kakarot’s slicked ass rising up for his taking.  “I won’t.”

As Vegeta’s hands seized his hips with bruising force, Kakarot sunk his teeth into the prince’s pillow, preparing himself as his cheeks were slowly spread.  He inhaled sharply when something blunt and warm pressed against his entrance, the prince growling behind him as he pressed forward.  Kakarot groaned the prince’s name, but it was only a muffled murmur as he spoke into the threads of the pillow.  When Vegeta breached his entrance, he lurched forward, every muscle in his body seizing in reaction to the powerful sensation.

Sinking deeper, Vegeta relished the murmured moans flowing from Kakarot’s beautiful mouth.  The heat enveloping him, squeezing his cock and setting every nerve in his system on fire, it made nothing else in the world matter.  Nothing existed now but him and Kakarot, in this bed, absorbed in the feel of one another.

When Vegeta thrust again with one smooth motion, Kakarot arched his back and gripped the sheets curled around his fingers.  His cock aching for attention, he thrust into the sheets bunched in waves of softness below his waist.  When something even softer caressed the tip of his length, Kakarot let out a quivering moan.  His cock was stroked by the downy fur of Vegeta’s tail, which only alighted his senses more to the thick cock filling him and stretching him to his limits.  Kakarot rolled his face forward, pressing his forehead into the pillow.  He was about to break.

“Yesssss.”  Vegeta’s chest heaved with every slap of skin resounding through the room, his speed and his pressure increasing with every thrust.  He was almost there.  He could feel Kakarot quivering beneath him.  The fool was stubborn, but he wouldn’t last as long as Vegeta.  Vegeta leaned forward, wrapping his chest around the taut muscles of Kakarot’s sweat-slicked back.  “Cum for me, Kakarot.”

Kakarot responded with an irreverent scream ripped from his mouth by a burst of sensation.  As tremors racked his body, Kakarot rode his climax with long, tortuous gyrations that couldn’t quell the feverish sensation overwhelming him.  He was floating, his consciousness drifting away, even as Vegeta thrust more violently and erratically with the approach of his climax.  When Kakarot felt the warmth of Vegeta filling him, his cock pulsing against Kakarot’s overstimulated nerves, Kakarot fell to the bed with one final shudder.  He twitched in the afterglow, rubbing his face into the soft pillow, the only sounds he could hear those of his ragged breath and Vegeta’s satisfied, tired moan.

As Vegeta pulled his flaccid length from Kakarot, giving that glorious backside one final caress, Vegeta closed his eyes and breathed deep.  He heard Kakarot’s breathing grow shallow as his lover approached sleep.  Vegeta opened his eyes to gaze upon the bare back of the man sprawled across his bed.  His lover.  His third class lover.  He had no idea how it had ever come to this.  It wasn’t what he wanted.  But he couldn’t say he wasn’t pleased with the results.  He would take Kakarot not only in his bed now, but on the battlefield, out to lunch, wherever he could, if only Lord Frieza and his men wouldn’t be around to watch his every move.  Without something done about Frieza, showing Kakarot any favoritism now would only doom the idiot, who wouldn’t have enough sense to practice the diplomacy and self-preservation Vegeta had learnt from his father over the years. 

With a scoff, Vegeta turned his gaze to his closed door.  He thought he heard something out in the hall.  Training his gaze on the door for any sign of light, he felt around for his pants and slipped off the mattress, using silent footsteps to approach the wall until he was able to press his bare back against it.  As he shimmied into his pants, Vegeta felt his heart begin to race.  There  _were_  footsteps approaching.  With Kakarot already in his bed, Vegeta only suspected the worst intentions behind this uninvited presence.  He had to be on guard now more than ever, with Lord Frieza around.  As the door opened soundlessly, and Kakarot continued sleeping, unaware of the approaching danger, Vegeta clenched his fists and readied himself for the intruder entering his doorway.

 King Vegeta’s eyes lit on the naked form in his son’s bed.  When he saw the ripples of relaxed muscles highlighted by the sliver of light slipping past his silhouette from the hall, he nearly breathed a sigh of relief.  The figure was alone and asleep.  Vegeta had suspected he’d find a trespasser in here with his son.  Specifically, and unreasonably, he suspected he’d find Kakarot.  Some instinct had cried out to him, awakening him from his sleep as he’d thought he’d heard a scream.  When he stepped forward, intending to check that his son was unharmed, King Vegeta gasped.  The face turned toward him was not his son’s.  It  _was_  Kakarot.  Clenching his fists, King Vegeta swept over the unconscious figure, intent on ending this right now.  He wouldn’t tolerate, in addition to his new troubles with Frieza, watching this shameful charade carry on any longer.  From wherever Vegeta was now, he would return to his room to find his third class lover bathing in his own blood.

Power pulsed through King Vegeta’s fingertips as he aimed for the man who’d soiled his son’s bed, and would destroy the sheets with the stains of his blood.  Vegeta would hate him for this, he knew.  He could see the way his son looked at this pathetic simpleton.  Vegeta couldn’t understand what his son saw in Kakarot, but at times he looked at the scum with a sort of reverence unbecoming of a prince of Saiyans.  King Vegeta had to kill Kakarot.  This was for the prince’s own good.  As ki lit his fingertips, flooding the room with a dim light, a shadow fell over Vegeta.  His eyes widened when he recognized the shadow cast by the ki-light on the wall beside his – the silhouette of his son with his arm raised toward his back.

“Son!” King Vegeta cried as he spun into the glowing light washing over him.

Vegeta didn’t blink as the blinding blast of white enveloped his room, pulsing in a dazzling display which took with its power the energy of a mighty king.  Vegeta could feel his father’s essence fade from this world, but he didn’t care one bit.  His father was going to kill Kakarot, and there was not one fiber in Vegeta’s body that would mourn his father over Kakarot.  The bastard had been asking for this, but with this attempt, he’d pushed it too far.  The sensation of killing the king of all Saiyans, killing one of his own, thrummed through Vegeta’s body with the power of it all.  He licked his lips, relishing in the taste of it.  He was all too aware that with his father gone, he was now the king.

“Vegeta?” Kakarot sat up, rubbing from his eyes the sparks which clouded his vision. 

He saw a body drop to the ground, revealing Vegeta as it fell.  With his bare chest heaving, Vegeta stood with his eyes pulsing in the aftermath of the blinding light.  Before the light faded from the room, Kakarot briefly met Vegeta’s gaze.  Vegeta knew exactly what he’d done.  There would be no explanations, no apologies, no discussion of the consequences.  As blackness washed over him again, Kakarot licked his lips and crept to the foot of the bed.

When Vegeta didn’t appear to move, nor make a sound, Kakarot reached for him.  “Vegeta?”

“The Saiyan race is no longer tied to the late king’s pledge of loyalty to Frieza.”

“Gods, Vegeta,” Kakarot breathed, taking in Vegeta’s calloused words.  “This is just what my father said.  He was right.”

“I don’t care about Bardock’s ridiculous foresight.”

“Vegeta!”

As Kakarot leapt off the bed to stand by Vegeta’s side, a silhouette darkened the open doorway.  Both Saiyans shot their gaze to the door, prepared to kill.  When the figure in the doorway raised his hands in surrender, Kakarot withdrew. 

Vegeta raised his hand to the intruder.  “Any last words?”

“Vegeta, it’s me!”

Vegeta narrowed his eyes as the figure stepped forward, waving his hands anxiously.  Even in the darkness with nothing to go on but a backlit silhouette, Vegeta recognized this Saiyan.  He was the only Saiyan with such a puny stature, who’d tremble so easily under duress, who’d also dare to address Vegeta without his royal title.

“Tarble,” Vegeta grunted.

“I heard something.  A blast.  Was it-“

Tarble stepped forward, his eyes falling on the heap at Vegeta’s feet.  When he recognized his father’s blood-smeared face, he met Vegeta’s gaze, his eyes going wide.

“I am his rightful heir, Tarble.”

Tarble gulped.  He nodded.  He couldn’t form words, but only shake his head as his father’s lifeless face burned into his memory.

“With his death,” Vegeta said, “I am now your king.  Swear your loyalty to me.”

Tarble shifted his gaze from his father on the ground to his brother directly in front of him.  He noticed his brother’s rigid arm had not drawn to his side.  With the way Kakarot stood by Vegeta’s side, laxed and completely naked, Tarble knew he couldn’t rely on the other Saiyan to defend him.  His lips pressed into a hard line as his eyes darted back to Vegeta’s.  So cold, so heartless – just like their father.  Yet there was one thing Vegeta had that his father never did.  Perhaps with someone like Kakarot by his side, pulling his strings, he’d yield to reason eventually.  Already, he disagreed with their father, which was a start.

Decisively, Tarble huffed.  “On one condition.  I may not wear my pride on my shoulder in the same way you do, Vegeta, but I  _have_  my pride.  Returning home to find Saiyans at each other’s throats, that’s not something to be proud of.  I’d rather return to exile if that’s going to be the case.”

Vegeta cleared his throat and found his gaze unwittingly traveling to the ground.  It was a shameful display.  Saiyans may have been born and bred to kill, but not each other.  Indulging in that war only confirmed Lord Frieza’s biases against the Saiyans and proved to those following Frieza that they  _were_  the fools he claimed them to be.

“Promise me,” Tarble continued, “that the only uprising Planet Vegeta will see again will be that meant to destroy Frieza and his regime.” 

Kakarot gasped.  “We’re going to destroy Frieza?”

He turned a hopeful smile on Vegeta.  If Kakarot was going to fight in any war,  _this_  is the one he would choose.  Kakarot knew his father, his brother, and every other third class Saiyan wanted it, too.  Frieza’s rule had only filtered down through King Vegeta’s control, but it wasn’t any better.  Regardless of King Vegeta’s heartlessness toward the lower spectrum of his people, they knew King Vegeta was  _kind_  in comparison to Frieza.

Vegeta met Kakarot’s gaze sparkling in the darkness.  He clenched his fists by his sides.  “ _I_  will destroy Frieza.  I’ll do it by becoming the Super Saiyan.”

“Super Saiyan?” Tarble said.  “That really is the only thing Frieza fears.  He actually believes the legend, if rumors I heard aboard his ship were true.”

“It’s real,” Vegeta said, “but Brolly was never the one meant to achieve it like the legends would have you believe.”

“Well, I guess he wasn’t,” Kakarot said with a shrug, “seeing that he’s dead.”

Vegeta met Kakarot’s gaze, his eye sparking with determination.  “As the new king of Vegeta,  _I_  will achieve the form to finally destroy Frieza.”

“If Frieza is destroyed, that leaves our people free to conquer for ourselves,” Tarble said with a frown.

“And we will,” Vegeta said, a grin spreading across his face.

“That’s fine by me,” Kakarot said, grasping his shoulder with one hand and rolling his arm.  He lowered his hands to his sides and stretched his neck side to side.  “But I hope you don’t mind if I’m the one to reach Super Saiyan and fight Frieza.”

Vegeta balked.  “You?”

“Kakarot,” Tarble said, concern marring his features, “I don’t know how you think-“

Kakarot turned a glare on Vegeta.  “Yeah, me!  I think I can do it, Vegeta.  I’ve been feeling like I’m on the verge of something lately.  I know it!”

Vegeta crossed his arms.  “Why haven't you told me about this?”

“You aren’t exactly big on conversation.”

As Vegeta growled, Tarble stepped forward and waved a hand between the two Saiyans.  “Whatever is going to happen, we need to be on-guard right now!  We can’t let Frieza take us by surprise, which is exactly what he’ll do if we keep squabbling with one another!”

Vegeta raised a brow.  “Squabbling?”

“Vegeta,” Kakarot said with a sigh.  “Tarble’s right.  Let’s get dressed.  When Frieza comes, we need to be ready.”

Vegeta grit his teeth.  There was no ‘ready’ when it came to Frieza.  In spite of his big talk, Vegeta knew they were taking on an enemy they’d possibly never defeat.  They  _needed_  that transformation to have any chance of winning against a being as impossibly powerful as Frieza.  But Vegeta would kill  _himself_  before considering the other option, the cowardly one his father’d taken.  He would never bow to Frieza, but he wouldn’t let Frieza destroy his entire race without a fight.  Vegeta wasn’t going to die easily. 

When Frieza breached the castle at full light, he’d realize the true potential of the Saiyan race.

 


	21. Better Than The Status Quo

 

 _Bardock opened his eyes to see Frieza’s red eyes, dilated and narrowed, staring back at him.  When Bardock flinched, he realized those eyes weren’t staring_ at _him, but_ through _him.  Bardock shot a glance over his shoulder, belatedly noticing the eerie glow from behind.  He turned slowly, afraid to see what could have frightened_ Frieza _._

_Bardock recognized a form surrounded by a yellow glow in the shape of a well-built male with an usually-colored Saiyan tail bristling through the waves of blinding light surrounding him.  The Saiyan didn’t have black hair as he should, but his hair stood up, as yellow as the glow around him.  He was screaming, but the scream was distant, as if he was trapped in a bottle rather than only a few feet from Bardock._

_Bardock gasped, his head shaking.  This couldn’t be-_

_“_ _No!” Frieza cried from behind him.  “No, it can’t be!”_

* * *

 

“This can’t be right,” Frieza drawled, pressing his chin to his chest.

He narrowed his eyes at the princes standing side by side.  The Saiyan prince had claimed to be the king.  All Saiyans might’ve looked alike, but Frieza knew the difference between this Vegeta and the other one.  Frieza’s eyes darted left, then right, finding no sign of the Saiyan king emerging from some hidden room to join them in front of the throne. 

“He won’t be joining us,” Prince Vegeta said, a devilish smile crossing his face.

“Oh he won’t?” Frieza said, feeling his eye twitch.  “I suppose he’d  _like_  me to destroy this planet right away.”

“He won’t be coming,” Tarble said, “because he’s dead.”

Frieza grunted, his brows furrowing as he read the eyes of the princes and one low class fool staring back at him.  They  _looked_  serious, but what they were saying made no sense.  His men wouldn’t  _dare_  kill the king of Vegeta without Frieza first giving the order.  Since he’d given no such order, and his men had been left confined to his ship, only a Saiyan could’ve killed the king, or he’d killed himself.  Perhaps that last option was believable, if the Saiyan king was more coward than he’d like to admit.  Frieza shook his head.  The fool was too prideful to even consider the easy way out.  Still, Frieza doubted any Saiyan subject would be able to kill their mighty king.

“Where is he?” Frieza asked.  “What is he up to?”

“Don’t believe them?” Kakarot said, tapping an imaginary device at the side of his head.  “Check your scouter, Frieza.  You won’t find him anywhere on the planet.”

Frieza sneered as his eyes were drawn past the tense princes, to the low class Saiyan daring to address the ruler of the universe without a proper title.  He knew that armor was low-grade, third class as the Saiyans called them,  _weak_  as Frieza liked to call them.  So the fact that this Saiyan was standing by Prince Vegeta’s side without a shred of deference in his body language told Frieza something was amiss here.  There was nothing normal about the Saiyan castle this morning.  Maybe the king  _was_  dead.  Frieza tapped his scouter.  He would check, but first, the Saiyan trash had to pay for his lack of respect.

Frieza’s lip tweaked into a tiny smile as he met the third class Saiyan’s eyes.  “I will, thank you.”

Numbers flashed and rolled across the rose-colored lens of Frieza’s scouter covering his left eye.  Before turning his head to seek the king’s power from another direction, Frieza shot a burst of power from his fingertip, piercing the breastplate of armor covering the brazen fool’s heart.

Prince Tarble gasped. “Kakarot!”

As Prince Vegeta grunted, his eyes wide but his expression otherwise impassive, Frieza lowered his chin and waited for the injured party to fall.  The Saiyan’s hand trembled as it moved to cover the smoking hole in his armor.  When the Saiyan’s palm peeled back, smeared with blood, Frieza grinned.  His gaze traveled up the armor to light on the paled face of the Saiyan who now looked back at him through twitching eyes.  Just as the Saiyan fell into Prince Tarble’s arms, more numbers registered in the lens of Frieza’s scouter.  As Frieza turned to continue his search, he noted a glare from the restrained Prince Vegeta fuller of fire than Frieza had ever seen from him before.

* * *

 

As Gine shook her hair free of the beads of liquid lingering from the tank, her eyes fell on the silhouette of the man emerging from the tank beside hers.  She gasped at Bardock’s dripping figure as she took in his absent gaze.  He took one step forward before coming to a complete stop on trembling knees.

“Bardock!”  Gine rushed to his side as Bardock fell to one knee.  “What is it?  What did you see?”

“I saw…”

“Bardock,” Gine cried, wiping his moist face with her palm, trying to snap him out of his daze.   “What?”

“…the king.  I saw…everything, Gine.”

“Bardock.” 

Closing her eyes, Gine shook her head.  She pressed a fist against her chest, where her rapidly beating heart seemed unable to slow.  He knew everything.  He  _had_  to know everything about her affair with the king.  He’d said it to her already, in so many ways.  She’d been so stupid not to say anything.  She never wanted Bardock to actually  _see_ -

“Bardock,” Gine pressed her lips together, “I’m so sorry about King Vegeta.  I never wanted-“

“I know all about you and King Vegeta,” Bardock said, shooting Gine a glare as he emerged fully from his trance.  “I know you only did it to save Kakarot’s reckless ass.”

“I-I never meant-“ Gine almost said ‘to hurt you’, but she bit her tongue, knowing those words would only injure Bardock’s pride. 

“You didn’t,” Bardock said, grasping Gine firmly by the chin and forcing her to meet his gaze.

When their eyes met, he briefly forgot about all the chaos he’d just seen.  The softness in her dark eyes told of her regret, her remorse, and most of all, her love for him.  Bardock knew Gine loved him exclusively.  She always had, always would.  The only competitors for her love were those damn sons of theirs, and maybe the infant granddaughter somewhere out in space.  Bardock felt the same way about Gine.  He would never say it, but he wanted Gine to  _see_  it.

After a moment, Gine bit her bottom lip and nodded.  She fought the tears burning at her eyes.  She knew Bardock would see them as weakness.  Maybe he liked that about her, but she didn’t want to be weak.  Their entire race was in danger.  She needed to be strong now more than ever.

“If King Vegeta-“

“King Vegeta won’t be doing  _anything_ ,” Bardock said.

“He - what?”

“He’s dead.”

“King Vegeta?”

The third voice from the other side of the room echoed off the floors and the walls before a loud bang shook the entire chamber.  Bardock shot his gaze in that direction to see the massive entrance slide closed behind Raditz and Leeka, who walked with their brows lowered and their fists clenched by their sides.

“King Vegeta’s dead?” Leeka repeated.  “Who killed him?”

“Vegeta,” Bardock said.

Gine’s eyes darted between Leeka and Raditz before her spine went rigid.  “Where’s Kakarot?”

“He disappeared,” Raditz said.  “We came here to see if  _you_  can give us some answers about what’s supposed to happen next.”  He turned to Bardock.  “Have you had any more visions?”

“Where did he go?” Gine said.

“He  _literally_ ,” Raditz said through clenched teeth, “disappeared.”

“Poof,” Leeka said, cutting her hand through the air, “just like that.  Neat little trick he learned.”

Raditz scoffed.  “Wonder how long he’s been keeping  _that_  one to himself.”

“I know where Kakarot is,” Bardock said, his gaze fixed on the ground.

Gine seized Bardock by the shoulders.  She already suspected where Kakarot might be.  She also suspected what Frieza’s next move might be. With King Vegeta gone, Vegeta was the new king of Saiyans.  If Frieza were to realize what Kakarot meant to Vegeta-

“Where, Bardock?” Gine asked, shaking Bardock.  “Where is he?”

Bardock’s eyes drifted toward Gine’s, his mouth set in a stubborn scowl.  “He’s with Prince Vegeta, Prince Tarble and Frieza….at the castle.”

“No!”  Gine shot to her feet.  “We have to get him out of there!”

“Gine!” Bardock’s fingers dug into Gine’s calf, urging her toward the ground.  “Kakarot  _needs_  to be there.”

Raditz raised a brow before exchanging a glance with Leeka.  He didn’t know what to say.  So far, his father’s visions had proved correct.  Raditz couldn’t think of a single example of a time they’d proven him wrong.  Raditz sighed when he met his mother’s gaze.  He could see that Gine was anxious to go after Kakarot, in spite of what his father had just said.  Hoping to calm his mother, Raditz set a hand on her shoulder.  This couldn’t be good for Kakarot, but Raditz was willing to yield to his father’s judgement.

Leeka’s brows bowed as she watched Raditz and Gine, helpless to do anything, and concerned not only about Kakarot, but their fate which rested in his hands.  When the fur of Gine’s puffed tail settled down and her fidgeting limb fell to rest on the tiled floor behind her, Leeka felt a small smile pull at her lips.  She looked to Bardock, seeing that his gaze had gone distant again, not with a vision, but with deep thought.  Leeka rubbed her lips together and pressed her body flush against Raditz’s hard armor as her thoughts turned to the events at the castle as well.  She hoped whatever Kakarot needed to do was important.

* * *

 

“So he  _is_  dead,” Frieza said, clicking off his scouter and narrowing his eyes at the princes.  “I suppose, Vegeta, that makes  _you_  the king.”

Vegeta’s eyes were locked on Kakarot.  The murmurs coming from Kakarot’s blood-stained lips were nothing new to Vegeta.  He’d witnessed pain before.  He’d even  _delivered_  pain to Kakarot like what he was experiencing now.  Kakarot could handle it.  But it was different, with the injury inflicted by Frieza.  A growl escaped Vegeta’s throat as he turned a glare on the tyrant, only to find Frieza’s eyes already locked on his face.

“Yes,” Tarble said.  “My brother is our king now, Lord Frieza.”

“And does,” Frieza paused to shift his eyes from Vegeta to Tarble, “ _your brother_  intend to honor his father’s past agreements?  If he doesn’t, I’m afraid this meeting could become rather awkward.”

Tarble barely contained the growl rising from his chest at Frieza’s lighthearted demeanor.  His fists tightened at his sides.  “You mean more awkward than ignoring a man bleeding out at our feet?”

Frieza raised his brows before casting his eyes toward the ground.  He acted as if he’d forgotten Kakarot down there, writhing and panting.  With his eyes set on Kakarot’s suffering, he acted as if he only recognized a bug crawling across the floor.

Kakarot laughed, drops of blood projecting from his mouth to litter the white throne room tiles and Frieza’s toes with red.  “Don’t worry, Tarble.  I’m fine.”

“Fine, my ass,” Vegeta hissed.

“Tarble?” Frieza said, raising his brows to assess the prince’s non-reaction to the casual address.  “Who is this man?”  Frieza turned his gaze to Kakarot.  “Should I know you?”

“Nevermind  _him_ ,” Vegeta snapped.  “It’s me you’re here to deal with, Frieza, or have you already forgotten who the king is?”

A smile crossed Frieza’s lips as he placed his hands on his hips.  “It’s hard to keep track around here.  You monkeys seem to change hands so often.”

“Monkeys?” Vegeta snarled.

“Well, since we’ve all thrown away titles here,” Frieza said with a shrug, “I don’t see any reason not to call you for the monkeys you are.”

“True,” Vegeta said, his lip twitching into a smile.  “It’s about time I call you for the  _freak_  you are.”

Tarble gasped and tugged Vegeta’s arm.  “Vegeta!”

“Stay out of this, Tarble!”

Frieza’s eyes narrowed, though he maintained a tight smile.  “I presume my arrangement with the previous king is null and void, then?”

“You mean the arrangement in which we’re to bow down as your slaves?  Play  _Lord_  Frieza’s puppets?”  Vegeta spat at Frieza’s feet.  “You can forget it.”

“You Saiyans are the basest, most senseless race I’ve come across in this entire universe,” Frieza hissed, his body trembling with rising fury.  “I should’ve done away with your kind years ago.  You’re not worth the trouble.”

“Hey,” Kakarot groaned, curling his fingers around Vegeta’s boot.  “What are you waiting for?  I thought you were going to transform into a Super Saiyan and kick his ass.”

Vegeta grunted as he kicked himself free of Kakarot’s hand and turned his eyes to Frieza.  The tyrant glared back at him, his eyes seething with anger usually hidden behind his tightly-woven veneer of composure. 

“Super Saiyan?” Frieza said.

Vegeta cursed Kakarot’s name under his breath as he braced himself, his attention fully on Frieza.  Now that he’d lost the element of surprise, thanks to Kakarot’s big mouth, he’d have to do this the hard way.  That was  _if_  he was given the chance.  He doubted now that Frieza would risk allowing Vegeta to achieve his transformation.

Frieza’s lips turned down in a scowl.  “There is no such thing.”

Tarble scoffed.  “You and I both know you’re lying through your teeth, Frieza.  My brother believes the Super Saiyan legend to be true.  So do you.”

Tarble wasn’t making matters easier for Vegeta.  Between him and Kakarot taunting Frieza, the pressure was on.  Vegeta needed to make this happen.  If only he knew  _how_  to initiate the transformation.  Planet Vegeta needed a Super Saiyan to defend it, or the entire Saiyan race would be obliterated.

Frieza’s eyes shifted from Tarble to Vegeta, his chin raising as he said, “I’ll give you one last chance to bow to me and save your planet,  _King_ Vegeta.”

* * *

 

“Kakarot’s going to be hurt, Bardock!” Gine snapped.  “I can feel it!”

“You’re right.  He probably already is.”

“What?” Raditz said.

Leeka pushed through Raditz to get in Bardock’s face.  “What do you mean?’

“The idiot,” Bardock scoffed.  “It wasn’t necessary.  Vegeta wasn’t going to transform anyway.”

“What?” Gine shrieked.

“Transform?” Raditz asked, his brows twitching.  “What do you mean, as a Great Ape?”

“He can’t mean a Super Saiyan,” Leeka said, crossing her arms.  “Right?”

“Bardock,” Gine said, clutching his upper arm with both hands, “are they going to die?”

Bardock smiled down at Gine.  “No.  Only Frieza.”

* * *

 

“Ach,” Kakarot cried, seizing his chest as a wave of pain coursed through him.  “Dammit!  I thought it would work.”

Vegeta shifted his gaze from Frieza’s domineering presence to Kakarot on the ground.  “ _What_  would work?”

“This should’ve triggered you to transform,” Kakarot grumbled, massaging his wound.

“Kakarot,” Tarble whispered, “how are you still conscious?”

Kakarot sent Tarble a smirk.  “Frieza didn’t hit anything vital.  I made sure of it.”

“You made  _sure_  of it?”  Frieza ground his teeth, his tail whacking the ground behind him as he shifted his glare from the wounded Saiyan to Tarble and Vegeta.  “And  _you two_.  I don’t see you on your knees.”

Vegeta growled at Kakarot.  “You can’t  _possibly_  be saying you  _let_  Frieza hit you.”

“Knees,” Frieza grumbled.

“Mm-hm,” Kakarot said as Frieza growled and Vegeta glared daggers at him.  “What?  It was only a little hit.  I was trying to help!”

“You moron!” Vegeta blasted.  “If you really could’ve moved out of the way, you should have!  What good are you to me now?”

“That’s it,” Frieza said, raising a finger in the air until it was engulfed in a red orb of power.  “Time’s up.”

* * *

 

“Frieza?” Leeka said with a gasp.  “Are you honestly telling us Frieza’s dead?”

Bardock cast his gaze toward the East, where the battle he’d already seen had to be unfolding many miles beyond his realm of sensation.  He had no idea how long he’d been unconscious, but he knew it hadn’t reached that point of the battle yet.  He hadn’t felt the seismic tremble beneath his feet or heard the tumultuous outcry signaling Frieza’s demise.  Bardock closed his eyes, drawing on lingering snapshots of the vision still implanted in his memory.

“Not yet,” he told the others as the ki blast to end the battle once again sparked across his vision.  “Something bad is going to happen first.  After it does, we’ll know.”

“Kakarot,” Gine gasped.

“I  _told_  you,” Bardock growled, eyes twitching behind his eyelids.  “Kakarot’s going to be fine.  Relax.  Be proud, Gine.”

* * *

 

As his brother screamed, Tarble cradled his knees in his hands, the moisture of his blood soaking through his gloves and cooling his heated skin.  Frieza’s blasts had ran through Tarble’s kneecap before he’d had a chance to react to the spark of red light coming his way.  It hurt like hell, but he was more concerned about his brother’s more vital hits.  Gritting his teeth, Tarble shot his gaze to Vegeta, who fell across Kakarot’s legs, clutching the gaping fresh wound beneath his ribcage.

“Vegeta,” Kakarot breathed.

He reached a trembling, blood-stained hand toward Vegeta’s shoulder, his eyes going wide at seeing Vegeta’s face contorted in pain.  “No…”

“Frieza,” Tarble pleaded, lunging forward but immediately falling as his weight crushed down on his wounded knee.  “Don’t kill him.”

“It’s too late for that,” Frieza said as he once again raised a hand toward Vegeta.  “Not only will I kill him, but I’ll draw out his suffering.  I’ll enjoy making all three of you suffer a long and painful death.  Then I’ll tie up loose ends by destroying the rest of this worthless planet.”

As Frieza cackled, the red glow from his finger shot across the throne room and tore through Vegeta’s shoulder.  Vegeta winced as he rebounded under the force of the collision, landing squarely in Kakarot’s lap.  Feeling the searing pain, he knew a good chunk was torn from his shoulder, his golden armor strap now dangling in front of him as blood ran down his chest.  Gritting his teeth, he braced the hand of his good arm over the wound in his side and forced himself to his feet. 

Vegeta would  _not_  go down this way.  A king would not die groveling at anyone’s feet, not even the feet of someone as powerful as Frieza.  As he forced himself to his feet, Vegeta fought a silent war within.  Every part of his body urged him to bow down and rest, to listen to the surge of pain telling him he shouldn’t move this way, but his mind was more stubborn than his body’s self-preservation.  He swallowed down the bile rising to his throat, spat aside the blood pooling around his teeth, and forced his legs to remain strong as they threatened to give out beneath him.  He was a king.  He would stand like a king, even if this was the end.

“If you have any last words,” Frieza said with a considerate tilt of his head, “I suggest you say them now, while you still have the faculties to do so.”

As Frieza shot at Vegeta’s arm, spearing through the flesh and splattering Kakarot with the blood, Kakarot cringed at the sound of Vegeta’s scream.  He couldn’t stand this.  This wasn’t how this was supposed to happen.  His father had been telling Kakarot all along that he would do something important.  He had to believe  _this_  was his moment.  As another scream blasted from Vegeta’s lips, Kakarot pounded his fist into the ground.  He didn’t know what to do.  He felt more helpless and infuriated than he’d ever felt in his life.

* * *

 

“Kakarot?”  Raditz scoffed.  “You can’t be serious.”

Bardock chuckled.  “But I am.”

He closed his eyes, seeking again the sight of his son doused in that ethereal glow, seething with rage and pulsing with power so vivid that Bardock could’ve sworn he’d actually  _felt_  it.  He knit his brows as he tried to capture the moment in his memory, something he never wanted to forget.  His son would not only accomplish the impossible with this one amazing feat, but he’d free them from Frieza’s rule and prove once and for all the irrelevance of their class system.  A Saiyan had no limits, regardless of the power level with which he was born. 

This was what Bardock’s visions had been hinting to him for years now – only he had no idea it would come to  _this_.

* * *

 

Kakarot couldn’t stand this.  The pain in his chest was dulled as it was replaced by the ache in his heart at seeing Vegeta falling again right before Kakarot’s eyes, finally relenting his struggle which he’d kept up through Frieza’s endless volley of attacks.  Vegeta didn’t look like he would make it.  It was hard for Kakarot to believe  _anyone_  could survive the amount of injuries Vegeta had sustained at Frieza’s hand.  Kakarot was amazed that Vegeta had lasted  _this_  long on his feet.   When Kakarot tore his eyes from Vegeta, he gasped at the sight of Frieza’s rigid finger already aimed for Vegeta’s chest. 

With the urge to protect Vegeta, Kakarot’s power coursed within his veins.  He somehow managed to rise to his feet and forget his pain.  When his movements caught Frieza’s eye, causing the tyrant to hesitate and relax his rigid finger, Kakarot let his eyes fall to Vegeta once more.  His hands quaked, even as they clenched into fists by his sides, but as Frieza spoke to him, his eyes didn’t move from Vegeta.  He didn’t even hear what Frieza had to say.  Kakarot couldn’t stand seeing his proud king like this, his limbs flopped to the ground, coated in his slick red blood, his regal attire shredded and singed.  Kakarot wanted Vegeta to say something to him, anything, but his eyes remained closed and his lips remained sealed.

His powerful, impressive energy was fading clear of Kakarot’s senses.

* * *

 

 “K-Kakarot,” Gine said, briefly meeting the confounded gazes of Leeka and Raditz staring back at her, “is a Super Saiyan?”

Bardock’s eyes shot open.  “Yes!”

* * *

 

 “No!” Kakarot screamed.  His head jerked back as a flash of white swirled around him like a torrent of visible power.  When he looked at Vegeta again, the motionless body was doused in light, every injury highlighted for Kakarot to see by his warm power radiating around him.  He looked to Frieza and grunted when he met those horror-stricken eyes.  Good.  He wanted Frieza to be scared.  Kakarot was going to rip him to pieces for this.  Somehow, he  _knew_  he could now.

“Kakarot,” Tarble breathed as he clutched Vegeta by the shoulders and drew his brother into his lap.

Whether he clung to Vegeta for protection or solidarity, Tarble couldn’t be sure.  He wasn’t even sure whether it was Frieza or Kakarot who frightened him more.  He had never seen anything like this.  He’d never felt this sort of power.  When the castle finally stopped trembling, the chandeliers no longer playing their trill song that threatened of crashing down from overhead, Tarble held his breath and took in the mesmerizing sight of a Super Saiyan.  When he finally peeled his eyes from the marvel Kakarot had become, Tarble could see by the look on Frieza’s face that the tyrant was just as stupefied by the sight as Tarble felt. 

Frieza had every reason to tremble.

* * *

 

Bardock sought Raditz’s gaze.  “We should head to the castle.”

“W-we should?” Gine asked.

“Yes,” Bardock said.  “Because Kakarot, Vegeta and Tarble will all need someone to bring them to the tanks.  By the time we get there, the fight should be over.”

As Bardock stepped forward, Raditz seized his father’s arm, halting him.  “You mean Kakarot isn’t going to drag this out like his usual cocky self?”

Leeka raised her brows.  “Like he does  _every time_  he gains something new to show off.”

Bardock rubbed his brow and laughed.  “Believe it or not, no.”

“Why not?” Gine asked.

Bardock met Gine’s gaze, knowing the answer, but unable to say it. He’d never seen Kakarot become so serious or get to the point faster than when someone for whom he genuinely cared was threatened.  Maybe even regarding Gine, Bardock would be unable to utter the word, regardless of how much he felt it.  Saiyans didn’t  _use_  that word.  But it was true that Bardock knew what he saw in those visions.  He understood what Kakarot felt in his final moments before killing Frieza.

* * *

 

“No!” Frieza cried, taking a step back.  “No, it can’t be!”

Kakarot raised a brow, feeling more powerful with every step he took toward Frieza.  “Do you give up, Frieza?”

“What?” Tarble scoffed, while something twitched against his fingers.

“I’ll give you one chance to leave the planet, if you give up now.”

“Kakarot!” Tarble hissed.  “You can’t let him leave!”

 “You,” Frieza said through clenched teeth.  “You can’t do anything to  _me_.  I’m the most powerful being in the universe!”

“No, Frieza,” Kakarot said, cupping his hands together until the space between radiated with more bright light than the entirety of the light swirling around his ethereal being.  “Not anymore.”

Frieza’s eyes bulged.  “Wait.  No, wait!”

As Kakarot’s power gathered in his hands, his thoughts lingering on Vegeta, Kakarot felt the power of his attack reach a level strong enough to take out anyone, even Frieza.  He ground his teeth together as he formed it into a ball, one he would project straight through Frieza for what he did to Vegeta.  It would’ve been fun to make Frieza suffer, but Kakarot had more important matters to attend to than Frieza.  He had caught a glimpse of Vegeta stirring in Tarble’s arms.  They could save him, if they moved fast to bring him to the healing chamber.  Kakarot couldn’t rely on Tarble as long as Frieza was still around to attack him, which meant Kakarot had to dispense with Frieza quickly.

There was no time to spare.  Kakarot crushed his hands around the power forming in his hands and launched it forward just as Frieza scrambled to launch a counterattack.

* * *

 

Bardock would never forget the look on Frieza’s face.  He would never forget the horror in the last light of the tyrant’s eyes as his son’s light reflected off those red pupils.  Taking a deep breath, Bardock launched off the ground.  When he flew into the air with the others, he heard the blast and the scream that echoed from the castle, carrying all the way to these distant mountains. Leaving the mountain facility behind, they headed for the castle, Bardock once again envisioning that beam of light coursing from Kakarot’s hands and searing through Frieza until the tyrant exploded into particles of nothingness.

Bardock saw sparks before his eyes before his current surroundings came back into focus, the castle in the distance smoking in the aftermath of the recent blast.  Bardock knew what was happening inside now.  Their arrival would be timed perfectly. 

* * *

 

As the dust settled, Kakarot panted, his hands falling to his sides.  He’d put everything he had into that attack, making sure Frieza didn’t have a second chance to hurt anyone else.  Kakarot could still feel the raw power radiating in his fingertips, something he’d have to refine and learn to control over time.  Wanting to go to Vegeta, Kakarot first needed to take the time to feel for Frieza’s presence and make sure there was not a trace of Frieza’s energy left.  Maybe Frieza’s lingering wasn’t the only thing Kakarot feared.  Once he felt content that there was no residual energy from Frieza, Kakarot closed his eyes as he turned toward Vegeta and Tarble.  He was afraid to open his eyes.  If Vegeta didn’t make it…Kakarot gulped before struggling to suppress the power he felt surging around him as his emotions spiraled out of control.

“Vegeta,” Tarble breathed, prompting Kakarot to open his eyes.  “Kakarot, he’s still breathing!”

Kakarot fell to Tarble’s side, leaning over Vegeta.  “Vegeta?  Vegeta, can you hear me?”

Kakarot looked to Tarble when there was no response, anxious to hear some explanation from him or even a gasp drawn from Vegeta’s lips.  Narrowing his brows, Kakarot lowered his gaze to Vegeta’s face, taking in the relaxed features which looked so different on Vegeta compared to the constant tension his face bore whenever he was conscious.  Pressing his palm over the warmth of Vegeta’s blood-stained chest armor, Kakarot shook, hoping to elicit some response.

“Vegeta!” Kakarot cried.

 The grumble that poured from Vegeta’s lips as his chest puffed under Kakarot’s hand prompted Kakarot’s heart to beat faster.  He gasped as his eyes sought Vegeta’s, which fluttered open, hazy and incoherent, but still open.

“Vegeta!”

“Ugh,” Vegeta said, his eyes rolling back in his head before his brows furrowed.  “Kakarot?”

Kakarot leaned forward, crushing his lips against Vegeta’s.  In spite of the swelling on Vegeta’s bottom lip and the taste of blood that lingered there, Kakarot had never felt anything better.  This was the best kiss he’d ever had, because it was the first time he’d been truly scared of losing Vegeta, but Vegeta’s lips pulsing with life proved otherwise.  As Kakarot’s lips pushed, pulled, and caressed against Vegeta’s, Vegeta growled.

He pressed with all his strength against the blonde-haired, teal-eyed fool slobbering all over him.  “Get off of me!”

Kakarot appeased Vegeta by pulling back, the smile on his face growing wider.  “Vegeta, you’re alive!”

Vegeta’s eyes darted from Kakarot’s face, to the ceiling, to every corner of the throne room.  Through the dust and rubble and blood splatter, he saw no sign of danger, only aftermath.  He met Kakarot’s bright-eyed gaze.  “And Frieza’s…not.”

“Yeah,” Kakarot said, running a hand down Vegeta’s chest and over his abdomen.  “I killed him.”

“Kakarot…” Vegeta rolled his eyes, fighting to talk as his consciousness drifted in and out.  “You’re-“

“He’s a Super Saiyan,” Tarble said, concern etched across his soft features as his face hovered over Vegeta’s.  “It was just like you said, Vegeta.  The only way to kill Frieza.”

Vegeta closed his eyes, intending to reach his hand toward his pounding head as he prepared to retort Tarble’s misinterpretation of his plan.   _He_ was supposed to be the one to become Super Saiyan and kill Frieza.   _He_  was the king of all Saiyans, not Kakarot.  A shot of pain coursed through Vegeta’s arm, seizing his motion before his head felt any relief.  As he grunted, Vegeta settled for letting the limb fall to his side to ease his pain, though he was pleasantly surprised by the sensation of a hand gently stroking his aching head, threading through his hair, warming his skin.  Vegeta inhaled deeply.  Kakarot’s scent calmed him.

“We’re gonna get you to the tanks, Vegeta,” Kakarot whispered.  “The people need to see their new king at his best.”

“Don’t patronize me,” Vegeta groaned.

The hand at his hair still soothed him, the sound of Kakarot’s voice only lulling him further into relaxation.  The truth was, Vegeta  _could_  relax now.  Knowing Frieza was dead, knowing he had free reign to rule his planet as he chose, and knowing he had Kakarot loyal and glued to his side, who’d proven the possibility of the Super Saiyan transformation, Vegeta knew everything he ever wanted was his for the taking.  Once he was healed, he would reach a level  _beyond_  Kakarot’s transformation, because  _he_  was the king of all Saiyans.  This was his planet.  Kakarot was his.  As everything faded to darkness, Vegeta smiled.

* * *

 

Gine’s hand fell into Bardock’s, slipping easily into place.  “You know what this means, don’t you?”

Bardock squeezed her hand.  “It means a lot.”

As Raditz and Leeka flying beside them exchanged a look, Leeka slipped her fingers beneath the bust of her armor.  Gine smiled toward the horizon, her eyes shining with the reflection of the morning light.  “Our new King Vegeta will be Planet Vegeta’s first ruler to acknowledge a third class Saiyan for his strength equal to or even  _greater_  than that of an elite.”

“Yeah, that’s one thing,” Leeka said, twirling a plastic item between her fingers before propping the device over her ear.  “Then of course, there’s the fact that Frieza’s being dead leaves us Saiyans free of PTO control or  _any_  servitude, for that matter.”

“There you go again,” Raditz said as Leeka’s scouter flashed digital numbers across the purple lens covering her eye.  “Always detracting the conversation from what’s important.  You heard what my mother just said.   _You_  can’t hold the class thing over me anymore, Babe.”

Leeka rolled her eyes.  “That is  _not_  what I - Toma!”

Raditz blinked as Leeka’s eyes went wide, her pursed lips taking in a breath of air so faintly he wouldn’t have noticed if he wasn’t watching her so attentively.  He looked back toward his parents to see his father looking at Leeka with an impassive frown.

“Frieza’s dead,” Leeka said, her lips forming a smile.  “Time to spread the word.  Prince Vegeta is now our king and-“

When Leeka cut herself off with a gasp, Gine frowned.  Raditz sought her gaze, seemingly alarmed by Leeka’s sudden change as she listened to something none of them could hear.  Gine had no idea what to expect anymore.  Between Bardock’s alarming news, Kakarot’s impressive and sudden move up in the world, and the fact that as far as she knew,  _they_  were the ones with all the news, she couldn’t imagine what Toma had to say that had Leeka’s rapt attention.  But as Leeka’s eyes welled with tears, Gine knew his news had to be big. 

Leeka laughed as she pressed the back of her hand to her eye to wipe away the tears she hoped no one had seen.  “Thank you, Toma.  Yeah, you’ll tell them, right?  I’ll tell you the rest later.  Thank you.  And tell Seripa good for her.”

“Well?” Raditz pressed before the communication had even ended.

“What big news did Seripa have?” Gine asked with a smile.

“Oh,” Leeka said, blinking rapidly.  “Uh…she and Toma are moving in together.  He sounds thrilled.  I don’t know if  _she_  feels that way, judging by what I heard in the background, but-“

“Then what are you crying about?” Raditz snapped.

Leeka’s jaw fell before she narrowed her eyes at Raditz.  “I wasn’t  _crying_!”

“Dammit, Leeka,” Bardock snapped.  “What’s the news?”

With a huff, Leeka turned her eyes from Raditz to Bardock. “Toma and the other survivors have been intercepting communication ever since Frieza’s men tried interrupting our transmissions, and he overheard, well –“ Leeka turned her eyes to Raditz as a smile lit her face.  “Auberga survived her mission.  Raditz, our daughter’s coming home!”

“Hey,” Raditz said, unable to wipe away the grin that pulled at his cheeks.  “I knew she’d be a survivor.”

Gine laughed, her tone of mirth catching everyone off-guard.  As Bardock raised his brows at her, expecting some explanation for her sudden burst of amusement, she rolled her eyes.  “I just realized how unhappy  _King_  Vegeta must be about Kakarot being the one who defeated Frieza.  That is, if your visions were all correct, Bardock.”

“They  _were_.”

“Well if  _that’s_  the case,” Raditz said with a shake of his head, “those two are right back where they started from, aren’t they?”

“Where they started from?” Bardock snorted.

“Don’t you know?  Kakarot won Prin -  _King_  Vegeta’s attention by besting him in a fight.  Those two are always going at it.”

Leeka scoffed.  “It’s only a matter of time before the King finds a way to become a Super Saiyan, too.”

“And with no Frieza around,” Gine said, “he’ll just have to prove he can kick Kakarot’s ass.”

“Like I said,” Raditz said as he slid his tail to coil around Leeka’s.  “Right back where they started.  They’ll always be trying to outdo each other.”

“Right back where they started, huh?” Gine said as her eyes met Bardock’s.  “I guess everything is status quo again.”

Bardock smiled as a blasted-out castle window allowed him to view the gathered silhouettes inside, leaning together to support one another among the ruins of the throne room.  “Status quo, but so much better.”

 


End file.
